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UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Martin P. Durkin, Secretary BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS Ewan Clague, Com m issioner In cooperation with VETERANS ADMINISTRATION REPRINT FROM 1951 OCCUPATIONAL OUTLOOK HANDBOOK Bulletin No. 1126 Employment Outlook in Printing Occupations A Reprint from the 1951 Occupational Outlook Handbook Bulletin No. 1126 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Martin P. Durkin, Secretary BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS Ewan Clague, Com m issioner In cooperation with VETERANS ADMINISTRATION For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office, Washington 25, D. C. - Price 25 cents LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL U nited S tates D epartm ent of L abor , B ur ea u of L abor S tatistics , Washington, D . C ., February 2, 1953. The S ecretary of L abo r : I have the honor to transmit herewith a report on the employment outlook in printing occupations taken from our 1951 edition of the Occupational Outlook Handbook. This reprint from the Handbook is being issued at this time to make available to the many counselors, teachers, students, and others who seek accurate occupational information, a separate report on the printing occupations to replace our Bulletin No. 902, issued in 1947, which described the outlook in this field. Librarians, counselors, and other users of the Occupational Outlook Handbook, as well as others with special interest in a single occupation or industry, have indicated the need for separate reports on the major occupational and industrial fields covered in the Handbook. The research for the Occupational Outlook Handbook was carried on with the financial support of the Veterans Administration, which needed information for use in its vocational rehabilitation and education activities. Hon. M artin P. D u r k in , Secretary oj Labor. E w an C lague , Commissioner. CONTENTS Printing occupations_______________ Methods of printing___________ Printing occupations___________ Fields of employment__________ Where printing jobs are found__ Earnings and working conditions. How to enter the field__________ Employment prospects_________ Where to get more information. _ Labor organizations____________ Trade associations and others___ Hand compositors and typesetters___ Outlook summary_____________ Nature of work________________ Training and qualifications_____ Outlook________ __________ ___ Earnings and unionization______ Linotype operators_________________ Outlook summary_____________ Nature of work________________ Training and qualifications_____ Outlook_______________________ Earnings and unionization______ Monotype keyboard operators______ Outlook summary_____________ Nature of work________________ Outlook__ ____________________ Earnings and unionization______ Monotype caster operators_________ Outlook summary_____________ Nature of work________________ Qualifications for employment__ Outlook_______________________ Earnings and unionization______ Proofreaders_______________________ Outlook summary_____________ Nature of work________________ Qualifications for employment__ Outlook_______________________ Earnings and unionization______ Electrotypers and stereotypers______ Outlook summary_____________ Nature of work________________ Qualifications__________________ Outlook_______________________ Earnings and unionization--------Photoengravers____________________ Outlook summary_____________ Nature of work-----------------------Qualifications for employment__ Earnings and unionization______ Outlook_______________________ Page 299 299 299 301 303 303 304 305 307 307 307 309 309 309 309 309 310 311 311 311 311 312 312 312 312 312 313 313 313 313 313 313 314 314 314 314 314 314 315 315 315 315 315 316 316 316 318 318 318 318 319 319 CONTENTS—Continued Rotogravure photoengravers_____________________________________________________________ Outlook summary__________________________________________________________________ Nature of work_____________________________________________________________________ Qualifications for employment_______________________________________________________ Earnings and unionization___________________________________________________________ Printing pressmen and assistants (letterpress and gravure)_________________________________ Outlook summary__________________________________________________ Nature of work____________________________________________________________________ Pressmen______________________________________________________________________ Press assistants________________________________________________________________ Qualifications_______________________________________________ ^______________________ Outlook_____________________________ _______________________________________________ Pressmen__________________________________________________________________________ Press assistants_____________________________________________________________________ Earnings and unionization___________________________________________________________ Lithographic (offset) occupations_________________________________________________________ Outlook summary__________________________________________________________________ Nature of work_____________________________________________________________________ Cameramen____________________________________________________________________ Artists and letterers____________________________________________________________ Platemakers___________________________________________________________________ Pressmen and assistants____________________________________ Training and qualifications__________________________________________________________ Outlook____________________________________________________________________________ Earnings and unionization___________________________________________________________ Bookbinders___________________________________________________________________ Outlook summary__________________________________________________________________ Nature of work_____________________________________________________________________ Qualifications for employment______________________________________________________ Outlook____________________________________________________________________________ Earnings and unionization___________________________________________________________ Bindery workers________________________________________________________________________ Outlook summary__________________________________________________________________ Nature of work_____________________________________________________________________ Training___________________________________________________________________________ Outlook_________________________________________________________.--------------------------Earnings and unionization---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------66. 67. 68. 69. 70. CHARTS Major printing occupations, employment,1940-------------------------------------------------------------Newspaper and job shops employ mostprinting workers, 1947---------------------------------------About half the printing jobs are intheMiddle Atlantic and Great Lakes Regions, 1947____ Printing employment made recordgains inpostwar period_______________________________ A general picture of the flow of work in printing_______________________________________ 300 301 302 305 308 TABLES 1. Union wage scales in important printing centers in selected pressroom occupations, July 1, 1950______________________________________________________________________________ 2. Union hourly wage scales in lithographic occupations in selected cities, Dec. 15, 1949______ Page 320 320 320 320 321 321 321 321 321 322 322 323 323 323 323 325 325 325 325 325 325 325 326 326 326 327 327 327 328 328 329 329 329 329 329 329 330 Cover Picture—Courtesy of Columbia Typographical Union, No. 101, Washington, D. C. 324 327 PRINTING OCCUPATIONS Printing is an art, a great industry, and one of our chief means of communication. Its contribu tion to the growth of democracy was so fundamen tal that freedom of the press was one of the basic rights incorporated in the first amendment to the United States Constitution. Printing workers make up one of the largest oc cupational groups in American industry. In 1949, jobs in the printing, publishing, and allied indus tries numbered about 725,000, of which roughly half a million were production and related work ers. Outside the industry itself, many thousands of printing workers were employed by governmen tal agencies, factories making items involving printing but which are not essentially graphic arts products, businesses doing their own commercial type printing, libraries, and other categories of employers. Methods of Printing Printing is essentially a means of putting ink on paper, metal, or other types of materials. Pres ent-day printing is done with the use of plates which are “run” on special printing presses. There are three basic methods of reproduction— letterpress, gravure printing, and lithography. In letterpress (also known as relief) printing, the let ters and designs to be reproduced are raised above the nonprinting areas of the type or the press plate. When the actual printing is done, ink is applied only to the letters and designs, usually by means of an inking roller. In gravure (or intaglio) work, the relation be tween the printing and nonprinting areas of the plate is opposite to that in letterpress. The letters and designs to be printed are cut or etched into the plate and are below the nonprinting surface. Ink has to be applied to the entire plate, but the surface is then wiped or scraped, leaving ink only in the depressions. In printing, suction is created, which lifts the ink out onto the paper. The plate used in lithography (offset printing) is smooth or nearly so, with both the image and nonimage areas on the same level, instead of on different levels, as in letterpress and gravure work. Lithography makes use of the principle that grease and water repel each other. The image areas of the plate are coated with a greasy substance to which the greasy printing ink will stick. On the press, the plate is moistened with water before each inking, with the result that only the image areas take up the greasy ink from the inking roller. In modern lithography the plates are processed photographically, and the method is often referred to as photolithography. There are a few types of work—preparing posters, for example—in which some of the plates are still made by hand. Letterpress is the oldest and by far the most common printing process. Practically all news papers, the bulk of books and magazines, and most other printed items are produced by this method. Work done by photoengraving shops (chiefly mak ing plates for use in relief printing of illustrations and other copy that cannot be set up in type) and by stereotyping and electrotyping shops (mainly producing metal and plastic duplicates of type forms and photoengravings for use as press plates) is also part of letterpress printing operations. Gravure printing, the process least employed (but most rapidly growing) is of two main types: Rotogravure (in which press plates are made from pictures by a method based on photography) and hand or machine engraving. The picture supple ments of some Sunday newspapers are the best known rotogravure items. Rotogravure pictures appear in many magazines and are used in other forms as well. Some printing on metal foil is done by this means. Hand or machine engraving is used in making engraved stationery, greeting cards, paper money, bonds, and similar products. Lithography is in use to a much greater extent than the gravure method of reproduction, but con siderably less than letterpress techniques. Prac tically all items printed by the relief process are also produced by lithography—including, for example, books, calendars, maps, posters, labels, office forms, sheet music, and even newspapers. Almost all printing on metal and much of the printing on rough paper is done by this method. Printing Occupations The all-round printer skilled in typesetting and also in operating a press was the typical printing worker up to the closing years of the nineteenth 299 OCCUPATIONAL OUTLOOK HANDBOOK CHART 66 MAJOR PRINTING OCCUPATIONS EMPLOYM ENT, 1 9 4 0 THOUSANDS OF WORKERS COMPOSING-ROOM JOBS 0 20 40 60 80 100 Compositors and Type setters, hand Linotype Operators Monotype Keyboard Operators Proofreaders Monotype Caster Operators ELECTROTYPERS AND STEREOTYPERS PHOTOENGRAVERS, including rotogravure LITH O G R A PH IC JOBS Platemakers Artists and Letterers Cameramen Cutters PRESSROOM JOBS Pressmen and Plate Printers Press Assistants BINDERY JOBS Bindery Workers, semi-skilled Bookbinders U N ITE D STA TES DEPA R TM EN T OF LABOR BUREAU OF LABOR S T A T IS T IC S 300 BASEO ON 1 9 4 0 CENSUS OF POPULATION AND OTHER SOURCES PRINTING OCCUPATIONS century. Some craftsmen who are adept in both kinds of work are still employed in small newspaper and job shops. In the printing indus try as a whole, however, they are greatly outnum bered by specialized craftsmen and semiskilled employees. The largest group of skilled and semiskilled workers are in the composing room, the depart ment responsible for typesetting and composition. Other major groups are the printing pressmen and their assistants, photoengravers and rotogravure photoengravers, electrotypers and stereotypers, lithographic workers, and bookbinders and bind ery workers. Chart 66 indicates the relative im portance of the largest printing occupations. Besides the occupations shown in chart 66, there are many other small groups of skilled or semi skilled printing workers. In some plants, espe cially in the newspaper industry, the composingroom work force includes Ludlow operators, who run a typecasting machine known as the Ludlow Typograph. Big composing rooms nearly always employ one or more “stonemen,” who place the pages of type in the large type form in which they leave the department. Another small group of workers, found in large plants, are mechanics who specialize in repairing and adjusting typesetting machines, printing presses, or bindery machines. Steel and copper plate engravers, on the other hand, work mainly in small engraving shops. They cut or etch let tering and designs into plates by hand or machine. Most of the occupations indicated in chart 66 and the preceding paragraphs are skilled jobs. The main exceptions are the press assistants and nonjourney men bindery workers, whose jobs are semiskilled. Proofreaders in nonunion shops are sometimes classed as clerical employees. In skilled occupations practically all the workers are men. However, many of the semiskilled work ers, especially in binderies, are women. Small numbers of Negroes are employed in skilled jobs; a greater number in semiskilled occupations. In the several hundred shops which print newspapers or other items for the Negro community (maga zines have experienced unusual growth in recent years) the great majority of workers in all types of jobs are Negroes. To complete the picture of the printing and pub lishing work force, the professional, administra tive, clerical, and unskilled employees of printing plants should be mentioned. The chief profes sional workers are the reporting and editorial stalls of newspapers and other publishers. In ad dition, all sizable plants employ increasing num bers of executives, estimators, salesmen, stenog raphers, clerks, and laborers of various types; these employees usually have duties much like those of comparable personnel in other industries. Fields of Employment The establishments engaged primarily in job or commercial printing make up the largest printing industry, in terms of employment of production workers (see chart 67). In 1947, as for many years in the past, about a third of such workers were employed in job shops. The Nation’s commercial plants produce a greater variety of printed matter than the other types of shops. Letterheads, business forms, pos ters, displays, calendars, and folders are but a few of the many thousands of items made by job plants. CHART 67 301 OCCUPATIONAL OUTLOOK HANDBOOK ABOUT HALF THE PRINTING JOBS ARE IN THE MIDDLE ATLANTIC AND GREAT LAKES REGIONS CHART 68 In addition, a large number of these commercial shops do a considerable amount of printing of newspapers, periodicals, books, pamphlets, or other items which are mainly produced in other branches of the printing industry. Newspapers make up the second largest em ployer of production workers in the printing and publishing fields. Newspaper plants concentrate mainly on turning out newspapers and do rela tively little printing of other materials. On the average, newspaper shops are larger than commer cial printing establishments. As chart 67 shows, lithography was the printing industry’s third largest employer of production and related workers in 1947, followed by book binding establishments and periodical printers and publishers. In addition, a considerable 302 amount of lithographic reproduction was done in letterpress and other types of printing plants. Among the smaller branches of the printing in dustries, according to the 1947 Census of Manu factures, are those made up of its book publishers and printers, greeting card manufacturers, and service shops. The last named do primarily type setting, engraving (includingphotoengraving), or electrotyping and stereotyping; this is done as a service to regular printers and others doing their own reproduction work. In addition to the workers in firms that are mainly engaged in printing, or in publishing and printing, many printing and bindery workers are employed by Government agencies and libraries, and also by manufacturers and other firms doing some printing in connection with their opera PRINTING OCCUPATIONS tions—for example, canned goods producers print ing their own labels. The largest printing plant in the world is the United States Government Printing Office in Washington, D. C. Where Printing Jobs Are Found As chart 68 shows, well over half of the printing jobs in the country are located in a few States, mainly in the Middle Atlantic and Great Lakes regions. The principal States and cities are New York (New York City), Illinois (Chicago), Pennsylvania (Philadelphia), and Ohio (Cleve land and Cincinnati). Well over half of the Nation’s printing is done in these States. Other leading centers are Los Angeles, San Francisco, Detroit, St. Louis, and Minneapolis-St. Paul. Washington, D. C., takes on special importance as a printing center owing to the concentration there of the Government’s printing and engraving activities. Employment in job and periodical printing is concentrated to a considerable extent in these areas. In the newspaper industry, a much larger proportion of jobs is found outside the main cen ters because of the great number of small, local newspapers scattered elsewhere throughout the country. Almost every small town has a printing shop of some kind—frequently a small newspaper plant which also handles the community’s job printing. Earnings and Working Conditions Earnings have long tended to be higher in print ing than in most other industries, owing to the large number of skilled workers employed, the strong influence of the printing unions, and other factors. In March 1950, production workers and nonsupervisory employees in newspaper plants averaged $2.12 an hour, considerably higher than in all but a very few industries. In manufactur ing, the next highest earnings for the same class of workers were in petroleum refining, with an average hourly figure of $1.90, in March 1950. The other printing industries also showed hourly earnings in March 1950 higher than those for most groups: $1.84 for production workers in periodical printing and publishing; $1.82 for those in litho graphic plants; commercial and job shops, $1.79; and book printing and publishing, $1.64. The average for all printing industries combined was $1.86; for all manufacturing, $1.43. The comparisons and averages cited above refer to production workers and nonsupervisory em ployees only, but cover all classes of such personnel. They include premium pay for overtime hours worked, extra pay for night shifts, and other forms of compensation which add to base pay. Earnings may vary considerably among individ ual printing workers. The differences may be a result of occupational variations in wage scales. The practices of different employers and unions in the same or in different cities may play a part. Many workers receive premium rates for long service, quality work, or for other reasons. Addi tional factors make for differences in pay between individual workers. The best source of information on basic pay rates in printing occupations is the union wage scales for selected groups in the important print ing centers reported annually to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Averages obtained from these scales differ from those shown above not only in that the union rates cover only certain individual trades, principally in the skilled crafts, but also in that they are the minimum basic scales for the given occupational classifications and subclassifica tions. Union wage scales are usually uniform for each occupation in a given locality, and are representa tive generally of wage rates in the highly organ ized skilled trades and, to a lesser extent, those in semiskilled printing jobs. A range indicated for a given occupation and city (as shown in the re ports on individual printing occupations which follow) means that there are two or more effective rates falling under the same general occupational classification, based on variations in job content or requirements. For example, the standard pho toengraver rate in an area may be $2.58 an hour, while tint layers in the occupation may earn $2.84; or there might be a rate of $1.50 an hour for onecolor pressmen in a given city, and $1.75 an hour for two-color men in the same city, under the same contract. There are frequently differences in the union wage scale between English and foreignlanguage operations. The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ union wage scales do not include Government scales, although these may be arrived at through negotiation with 303 OCCUPATIONAL, OUTLOOK HANDBOOK employee organizations, including the regular printing trades unions found in private industry. Scales of the Government Printing Office are in dicated separately at appropriate points of this report. Starting pay of an apprentice (see p. 304) is usually 30 or 40 percent of the wage rate for jour neymen in the shop. This is increased once or twice a year, until, in the final year or half-year of training, he receives 80 or 90 percent of the jour neymen rate. Men who have had some experience in the trade, civilian or military, can often obtain credit for this. They will then start at a wage above the beginning apprentice rate, and the length of time before they become journeymen will be reduced. Veterans who qualify under the GI Bill of Bights may also receive subsistence al lowances* from the Federal Government during part or all of the training period. The Bureau of Labor Statistics obtains the sep arate union wage scales for day and night work. The rates referred to below and elsewhere through out this report are for day work. More detailed information on union wage scales than appears in this report is available upon request. In July 1949, union wage scales in the 77 print ing centers covered taken together averaged about $2.50 an hour in the newspaper industry; $2.08 in book and job work. Three-fifths of the workers covered were employed at scales ranging from $2 to $2.60 an hour. In the half-year following July 1949, many wage scales increased. Most increases appeared to fall within a range of 5 to 15 cents an hour, or $2 to $6 a week. In most printing plants, as in many other man ufacturing establishments, workers are paid timeand-a-half not only for work in excess of a specified number of hours a week, but also for hours in ex cess of 8 a day. For such overtime purposes, the standard workweek in mid-1949 was usually 37% hours in the mechanical departments of newspaper plants where collective bargaining agreements were in effect. Shorter schedules apparently pre vailed under contracts in shops outside the news paper industry. There is considerable variation, however. In newspaper work, for example, ac cording to the American Newspaper Publishers Association, a young man going into a small plant would most likely work a 40-hour week. In a metropolitan plant, he might be on a schedule even shorter than 35 hours* 304 Work on Sundays and holidays is customarily paid for at time-and-a-half or double-time rates in most branches of printing, In newspaper plants, an individual employee’s regular workweek often must include Sundays and holidays; time-and-ahalf or double-time is paid for these days only when they are not part of the employee’s regular shift. In early 1950, night-shift workers in union shops generally received about $5 or more extra for the regular workweek. Yearly earnings of workers depend not only on rates of pay and related provisions, but also on how regularly they are employed. Printing workers are fortunate in having steadier employ ment and earnings than workers in many other industries. This is true especially in the news paper field. Paid vacations are called for by most union con tracts. The most common provision is 2 weeks’ vacation with pay after 1 year of employment. In addition, the printing unions are noted for welfare provisions for their members. For ex ample, pensions, sanitarium facilities, and educa tional programs are frequently provided. The principal labor organizations are listed on page 307, and are referred to elsewhere in this report. IIow To Enter the Field Apprenticeship is the accepted way of entering skilled printing occupations. With very rare ex ceptions, it is the only means by which one may qualify as a journeyman in a union shop, where the ratio of apprentices to journeyman is established by agreement between the employer and unions. Printing apprenticeships usually require from 4 to 6 years, depending on the occupation and whether the shop is union or nonunion. The training program covers all phases of the particu lar trade and almost always includes classes in related technical subjects, as well as training on the job. To be eligible for apprenticeship, applicants are generally required to be 18 (sometimes only 17) years of age and not over 30. A physical examina tion is usually given to find out whether the appli cant is free from communicable diseases, has eye sight adequate for the particular occupation, and is in good enough physical condition to do the work which will be involved in his job. PRINTING OCCUPATIONS Exceptional physical strength is rarely required. Printing is, on the whole, a relatively good field of employment for handicapped people. A consid erable number of workers, particularly linotypists and compositors, have speech or hearing defects; some are even totally deaf. Men who have lost one or both legs or do not have the use of all 10 fingers have proved satisfactory in some composing-room occupations. Success in a job generally depends on the individual’s ability to do the work and to adjust himself to specific working conditions. Handicapped people should not consider them selves automatically disqualified for employment in the industry, but should seek competent profes sional advice. Education is another factor which employers consider in selecting apprentices. A high school education is usually required and always pre ferred. A thorough knowledge of spelling, punc tuation, and grammar is essential for most trades. Technical training in printing in a vocational school is desirable. Printing courses in a high school, often given as part of a general industrial arts program, are also good preparation. In addi tion, courses in art, such as drawing, design, color, and lettering, are helpful for many kinds of print ing work. Such courses are offered by the Carne gie Institute of Technology (in Pittsburgh, Pa.), Rochester (N. Y.) Institute of Technology, and New York (City) Printing School and are consid ered to be unusually good. In late 1949, an estimated 20,000 veterans were receiving some training or education in connection with printing and publishing vocations under the GI Bill of Rights. Nonveterans in similar train ing programs also numbered in the thousands. Employment Prospects During the early fifties, employment in printing occupations as a whole will remain about the same as in 1949. There will be some job openings each year, largely to replace men leaving the printing trades because of death and retirement. The de fense production program begun during 1950 is not likely to increase the volume of printing sub stantially over the high postwar levels. The bulk of printing production is connected with advertis ing, or is used for education, information or recre ation, and is not directly affected by defense re quirements. There may be some slight increase in P R IN TIN G EMPLOYMENT MADE IN POSTWAR Employment Index UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS of RECORD GAINS PERIOD Production Workers 1935-100 BASED ON DATA FROM U.S. BUREAU OF TH E CENSUS AND BUREAU OF LABOR S TA TISTIC S. CHART 69 the total output of printed materials to meet the expanded needs of the Armed Forces, and the ac companying higher levels of business activity. Many of the printing plants will be able to handle any increases in their business by lengthening the workweek of their employees. If, as seems likely under the mobilization plans set up in 1950, a large proportion of the Nation’s youth is taken into the Armed Forces, at least temporarily, there will be less competition for apprenticeship openings. On the other hand, it is probable that the printing industries will offer fewer apprenticeships. The widely discussed recent technological develop ments in printing are not likely to affect employ ment appreciably during this period. Over the longer run, printing employment is likely to show a gradual increase. The history of employment in the printing industry has been one of steady growth, except for periods of severe business depression (chart 69). In 1899, there were about 200,000 jobs in production and related work in the printing, publishing, and allied indus tries. By 1929, the number had risen almost 80 percent to more than 350,000. During this same 305 OCCUPATIONAL OUTLOOK HANDBOOK period the actual output of printed matter in creased much more rapidly. Printing activity was hit fairly hard by the de pression of the early 1930’s, although printing em ployment did not decline as much as that in other industries. Newspaper and magazine publishing held up particularly well. Total employment of production workers in printing and publishing dropped to about 260,000 in 1933, but recovered to about 350,000 by 1937, according to census reports. Probably the sharpest year-to-year gain in print ing employment ever recorded was that which occurred between 1945 and 1946. During World War II, the number of wage earners was not much above the 1939 level of 325,000. Instead, hours of work were increased to meet the heavier demands for printing. The great postwar boom in general business and reductions in the length of the work week expanded printing employment to 438,000 in 1947. Following this upsurge in employment, the number of production jobs leveled off in 1948 and 1949. In the future as in the past, population growth and the general tendency toward greater use of printing material for information, advertising, en tertainment, and various industrial and commer cial purposes should cause further gains in print ing output over the long run. But past experience in this field also indicates that possible gains in employment arising from increased consumption of printed matter will be limited by technical im provements in the printing process. In the past few years there have been a number of develop ments which may have considerable effect on print ing methods and the number and kinds of printing workers employed. Now in commercial use or in the laboratory stage are a wide variety of new devices and techniques, ranging from such comparatively simple items as electronic counters to highly complex systems of radio transmission of copy and proof. Some of the new methods affect primarily a single printing operation, while the influence of others may be spread across the entire printing field. One of the developments, relating to composingroom work, involves the use of special typewriters which “justify” copy (even it up at the right-hand margin) by varying the space between words. The copy is “pasted-up,” photographed, and plates made by means of photoengraving. These are then used to produce stereotypes or offset plates from 306 which the printing is done. When used, this process eliminates the usual typesetting process. Implying a still greater technical revolution is the Fotosetter, a photocomposition machine al ready in commercial use. This equipment is said to be as effective in composition as is the present-day method of setting type. It is claimed also that it is easier to operate than typesetting machines now in use and that it does the job faster. One of its outstanding features is a special automatic camera which photographs letter characters one at a time and records them on a new type of photo graphic film in lines assembled in galley form. This film can then be used to make offset plates or photoengravings. A new type of machine can be used in engraving in place of the conventional chemical process. In this new method a heated steel stylus is guided by means of photo-electric cells. Electronic printing, another new development, may replace some of the conventional printing presses. In this process, ink is drawn off the print ing surface onto the paper by an electric force; no physical contact occurs between the printing sur face and the paper. It is claimed that printed matter can he turned out by this method at many times the speed of regular presses. At the same time, improvements are being made on old style presses which increase their speed of operation, and these should have a definite influence on press room labor requirements. The introduction of these and other methods is likely to be gradual. They will have a tendency to reduce printing employment or to limit gains which would result from increased demands for printed materials. To the extent that they do in crease efficiency of printing operations and hold down printing costs, they may actually encourage greater use of printing. This has been the case with the important innovations in the past, such as the linotype machine. Despite the labor-saving effects of these inventions, printing employment continued to grow rapidly. Another important factor which will tend to limit any possible decrease in employment result ing from technological changes is the likelihood of a continued reduction in the length of the work week in printing plants. Over a period of years, weekly work schedules have been steadily cut from the 9-hour day and 6-day week which prevailed in commercial printing at the beginning of the cen PRINTING OCCUPATIONS tury, to workweeks of 35 and 37y2 hours which are now prevalent in newspaper plants and job shops. The limiting of the number of weekly hours (at straight-time pay) is a policy of the printing unions which is expected to continue in future years. The over-all result of the increased demands for printing, technological changes, and the trend toward a shorter workweek should be a slight and gradual long run increase in employment. How ever, there will be more job openings each year to replace older workers who die or retire than will be caused by the small increases in employment. Where To Get More Information Additional information on the printing indus tries, on methods of printing, and on typesetting and many other printing occupations is given in: Employment Outlook in Printing Occupations. Bulletin No. 902. U. S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1947. 36 pp., illus. Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D. C. Price 20 cents. Information on opportunities for apprentice ship or other types of printing employment in a particular locality may be obtained from several different sources. Applicants may go to the nearest office of their State employment service affiliated with the United States Employment Service, or to any printing plants in the neighbor hood (addresses can be obtained from the classified section of the local telephone directory). Local unions and employer associations can also be of great assistance. If none is listed in the telephone directory, an applicant may write to the following national headquarters of such organizations and ask them to refer the letters to their nearest branches. Labor Organizations Amalgamated Lithographers of America (CIO), 143 W, 51st St., New York 19, N. Y. International Allied Printing Trades Association (AFL), 302 AFL Bldg., Washington 1, D. C. International Brotherhood of Bookbinders (AFL), 901 Massachusetts Ave., NW., Washington 1, D. C. International Photo-Engravers’ Union of North Amer ica (AFL), 292 Madison Ave., New York 17, N. Y. International Printing Pressmen’s and Assistants’ Un ion of North America (AFL), Pressmen’s Home, Tenn. International Stereotypers’ and Electrotypers’ Union (AFL), 752 Old South Building, Boston 8, Mass. International Typographical Union (AFL), 2820 N. Meridian St., Indianapolis 6, Ind. Trade Associations and Others American Photoengravers Association, 166 W. Van Buren St., Chicago 4, 111. Book Manufacturers Institute, Inc., 25 W. 43d St., New York 18, N. Y. Employing Printers Association of America, 53 W. Jackson Blvd., Chicago 4, 111. International Association of Electrotypers and Stere otypers, Inc., % Executive Secretary: Mr. A. P. Schloegel, 701 Leader Bldg., Cleveland 14, Ohio International Association of Printing House Crafts men, 18 E. Fourth St., Cincinnati, Ohio. Library Binding Institute, 501 Fifth Ave., New York, N. Y. Lithographers National Association, Inc., 420 Lexington Ave., New York 17, N. Y. Lithographical Technical Foundation, Inc., 131 E. 39th St., New York 16, N. Y. National Association of Magazine Publishers, 232 Madison Ave., New York 16, N. Y. National Association of Photo-Lithographers, 317 W. 45th St., New York 19, N. Y. Printing Industry of America, Inc., 719 Fifteenth St., NW., Washington 5, D. C. 307 OCCUPATIONAL OUTLOOK HANDBOOK CHART 70 A GENERAL PICTURE OF THE FLOW OF WORK IN PRINTING LETTERPRESS LITHOGRAPHIC fCOPY I COMPOSING ROOM! HAND COMPOSITORS LIN O TY P E OPERATORS MONOTYPE KEYBOARD OPERATORS MONOTYPE CASTER OPERATORS □ i CAMERAMEN PHOTOENGRAVERS : opm□ ROTO GRAVURE 1 COPY 1 A R T IS T S ROTOGI3AVURE PHIDTOENGRiAVERS PROOFREADERS OTHERS ELECTRO TYPERS D ll » A T1 Pb AMJ A AK ltC FD C ■ nw STEREO TYPERS PRESSROOM LE TTER PR ESS PRESSMEN AND ASSISTAN TS ROTOGRAVURE LITHOGRAPHIC PRESSMEN PRESSMEN AND AND ASSISTANTS ASSISTANTS BINDERY BOOKBINDERS BINDERY WORKERS MAILING OR SHIPPING TO UN ITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR BUREAU OF LABOR S T A T IS T IC S 308 CUSTOMER PRINTING OCCUPATIONS Hand Compositors and Typesetters (D. O. T. 4-44.010) Outlook Summary Job prospects fair for qualified journeymen in most parts of country in early fifties, but dimin ishing number of apprenticeship openings. Em ployment will probably soon resume its long-range downtrend. Nature of Work Copy to be printed by the letterpress process starts its trip through a printing plant in the composing room as shown in chart 70. There the type is set and assembled in type forms, ready for the pressroom—or for electrotyping or stereotyp ing, if printing is to be done from press plates instead of directly from type forms. The oldest and largest composing-room occu pation (with probably no less than 100,000 now employed) is that of hand compositor and typeset ter. Their job involves setting each line of type in a “composing stick”—letter by letter and line by line and, when the stick is full, sliding the com pleted lines onto a shallow metal tray or “galley.” Even in shops where all “straight matter” (such as you are now reading) is set by machine—and there are many—hand compositors may still be needed to set some of the type required for head lines, titles, and other special work, and to assem ble the machine- and hand-set type. Taking proofs of type that has been set (i. e., printing a few copies on a proof press), checking the proofs against the original copy, correcting errors in typesetting, page make-up (arranging type and any needed engravings into pages), and locking the completed pages into forms are among the other tasks sometimes performed by compositors, particularly in small shops. In large plants, page make-up is usually done by special “make-up men,” chosen from among the compositors; type forms are generally locked up by “stonemen.” All the major branches of letterpress printing— newspaper, job, book, and periodical—employ large numbers of hand compositors. Smaller numbers work in other kinds of printing shops or in service shops doing typesetting on contract for printing and other establishments. A good many men in the occupation have their own small job or service shop. Training and Qualifications A 6-year apprenticeship is usually required for employment as a journeyman compositor or type setter. In union shops, apprenticeship of this length is always needed except for some veterans with military experience related to printing, and apprentices for whom shop foremen recommend shorter training periods in recognition of out standing ability. The apprenticeship commonly found in this trade includes a considerable amount of classroom and correspondence study. Printed manuals of instruction have been prepared by the Interna tional Typographical Union (AFL) and the Printing Industry of America, Inc. (employer as sociation). These manuals are used not only in apprenticeship programs but also in vocational schools. Besides having the educational qualifications needed for all skilled printing occupations, a com positor should be good in arithmetic, so that he can calculate spacing of type on pages. A knowledge of English is especially important, since the worker should be able to catch errors in copy before setting type. Imagination and artistic ability in plan ning page lay-outs are assets which may help him to advance to lay-out work or make a success in business for himself. It is necessary for the worker to be in good enough physical condition to be on his feet 8 hours a day. He should also be able to use his hands, arms, and eyes constantly. Outlook Employment prospects for journeymen composi tors are expected to be fair in most parts of the country during the next few years. For a year or two following VJ-day, there were many more openings for inexperienced men than usual. I n . these immediate postwar years, employers, in order 309 OCCUPATIONAL OUTLOOK HANDBOOK to make up for the wartime deficit in trainees, gen erally took on as many apprentices as were per mitted by the ratios of apprentices to journeymen established by union agreements, or that it was feasible to take on, but training opportunities have since become much fewer. Apprentice members of the International Typographical Union in all printing trades in which the union provides for such affiliation numbered about 6,500 in mid-1949, considerably more than in 1945. Similarly, gains were registered in other categories of hand com positor trainees. During the early fifties, appren ticeship openings will be fewer, but probably there will also be a smaller number of applicants. Employment in this occupation, as before World War II, will no doubt tend to decrease, in the long run—owing to continued advances in machine typesetting and to other factors. The decline will be slow and will probably not involve many lay offs. Men in the occupation should have a good chance of holding their jobs indefinitely, especially if they have machine (linotype or monotype) as well as hand skills. For years there have been so many small general printing shops that competition for business has been keen in most parts of the country, and earn ings of shop owners have often been very inade quate. Nevertheless, some men may be able to go into business for themselves during the next few years. Those with varied experience in the indus try will have the best chance of success, especially if they locate in growing suburban and other areas where they will not be in direct competition with well-established “downtown” firms. Men with composing-room skills plus supervi sory and managerial abilities will also find some immediate openings in salaried positions with large organizations, and, in general, good oppor tunity for advancement to such positions. Earnings and Unionization Hand compositors are among the better paid printing trades workers. Union wage scales in effect in a large number of cities on July 1, 1950, averaged nearly $2.42 an hour in book and job printing and about 8 cents more in newspaper plants (daywork). The lowest scale among the cities covered was in book and job work in Manchester, N. H. and 310 Savannah, Ga. (see table below). At the extreme upper end of the scale was a rate of $2.74 an hour, in Detroit, for some newspaper craftsmen. On July 1, 1950, more than half the workers were on pay scales ranging from $2.40 to $2.60 an hour. The minimum union wage rates for hand com positors and typesetters as of July 1,1950, for most of the important printing centers are shown in the following tabulation: CityAtlanta, Ga________ Baltimore, M d_____ Birmingham, Ala___ Boston, Mass_______ Buffalo, N. Y ______ Butte, Mont_______ Charlotte, N. C_____ Chattanooga, Tenn__ Chicago, 111________ Cincinnati, Ohio____ Cleveland, Ohio____ Columbus, Ohio____ Dallas, Tex_________ Davenport, Iowa___ Dayton, Ohio_______ Denver, Colo_______ Des Moines, Iowa__ Detroit, Mich______ Duluth, Minn______ El Paso, Tex_______ Erie, Pa____________ Grand Rapids, Mich_ Houston, Tex______ Indianapolis, Ind___ Jacksonville, Fla____ Kansas City, Mo___ Knoxville, Tenn____ Little Rock, Ark____ Los Angeles, Calif__ Louisville, Ky______ Manchester, N. H __ Memphis, Tenn____ Milwaukee, Wis____ Minneapolis, Minn__ Mobile, Ala________ Moline, 111_________ Newark, N. J______ New Haven, Conn___ New Orleans, La____ New York, N. Y ____ Norfolk, Va________ Oakland, Calif______ Oklahoma City, Okla Omaha, Nebr_______ Peoria, 111__________ Philadelphia, Pa____ Newspapers $2. 45 2. 40 2. 38 2. 52 2. 46 2. 40 2. 10 2. 32 2. 63 2. 53 2. 53 2. 48 2. 53 2. 14 2. 37 2. 52 2. 40 1. 50-2. 74 2. 19 2. 35 2. 19 2. 34 2. 57 2. 51 2. 39 2. 44 2. 32 2. 18 2. 48 2. 44 2. 08 2. 40 2. 48 2. 68 2. 28 2. 14 2. 56 2. 27 2. 18 1. 88-2. 73 2. 35 2. 64 2. 33 2. 25 2. 28 2. 40 Book and job shops $2. 33 2. 00 2. 33 2. 13 2. 31 2. 37 2. 05 2. 13 2. 59 2. 34 2. 35 2. 35 2. 35 1. 85 2. 37-2. 40 2. 19 2. 19 2. 58-2. 69 1. 75 2. 35 2. 00 2. 15-2. 34 2. 51 2. 27 1. 88 2. 37 2. 25 1. 98 2. 47 2. 06 1. 70 2. 05 2. 35 2. 43 2. 20 1. 85 2. 48 1. 93 2. 10 2. 48 2. 00 2. 63 2. 00 2. 18 2. 08 2. 20 PRINTING OCCUPATIONS City Phoenix, Ariz__ _ __ _ Pittsburgh, Pa __ Portland, M ain e.__ Portland, Oreg_ ___ Providence, R. I _____ Reading, Pa _ ___ Richmond, V a _ __ Rochester, N. Y Rock Island, 111. St. Louis, Mo _ _ St. Paul, Minn _ __ __ Salt Lake City, Utah____ San Antonio, Tex ___ _ _ San Francisco, Calif______ Savannah, Ga__________ _ Scranton, Pa______ ________ Seattle Wash______________ Newspapers $2. 35 2. 53 2. 11 2. 57 2. 42 2. 16 2. 21 2. 32 2. 22 2. 59 2. 65 2. 40 2. 29 2. 64 2. 13 2. 37 2. 71 Book and job shops $2. 35 2. 40 1. 80 2. 51 2. 10 2. 04 1. 75 2. 25-2. 29 1. 95 2. 32 2. 43-2. 50 1. 88 2. 18 2. 63 1. 70 2. 28 2. 71 City Newspapers South Bend, Ind __ Spokane, Wash Springfield, Mass Syracuse, N. Y Toledo, Ohio Washington, D. C Wichita, Kans Worcester, Mass York, Pa Youngstown, Ohio $2. 29 2. 49 2. 00 2. 37 2. 55 2. 64 2. 19 2. 29 2. 00 2. 33 Book and job shops $2. 18 2. 32 2. 00 2. 35 2. 06-2. 19 2. 40 2. 19 1. 83 2. 00 2. 07 A large proportion, if not the great majority, of compositors are represented by the Interna tional Typographical Union (AFL), one of the six major unions of printing workers. Linotype Operators (D. O. T. 4-44.110) Outlook Summary Fairly good employment prospects for skilled men during early fifties, in country as a whole, but diminishing number of training opportunities. Long-run uptrend in employment expected to con tinue for some time. Eventually, however, de cline in number of jobs is possible, even under favorable economic conditions. Nature of Work In the late 1880’s, a new machine, which was to revolutionize the composing room and the print ing industries generally, came into use. This ma chine, the now famous linotype, sets type very much more rapidly than is possible by hand (as does the intertype, a similar machine invented some years later). Reading from copy clipped to the machine’s copyboard, the linotype or intertype operator selects the letters and other characters to be printed by operating a keyboard which has about 90 keys. After he completes each line, he works a lever, and the machine then casts the lines of type automatically in solid strips known as slugs. Other duties performed by the operator include removing type from the machine, putting new “pigs” (blocks) of type metal into the melting pot, and making adjustments. In shops having a con siderable number of linotype machines, however, a machinist is usually employed who makes all but the minor adjustments directly connected with machine operation. As linotype and intertype machines came into wider use, the number of operators needed in creased. They have made up the second largest group of composing-room workers for many years, exceeded in number only by hand compositors. In 1940, an estimated 60,000 persons were em ployed as linotypists and the number is now con siderably greater. The largest groups of such workers are in newspaper and job shops, but they are also employed in book and periodical houses and in service shops doing machine typesetting for printing firms. Some linotype operators have their own service shops. Training and Qualifications Like hand compositors and typesetters, linotype operators are skilled journeymen. The appren ticeship requirements are usually the same as for hand compositors, except that in the last 6 months of training the linotypist apprentice receives specialized training in machine work. 311 OCCUPATIONAL OUTLOOK HANDBOOK Qualifications needed bv apprentices are much the same for machine as for hand typesetting. For machine work, however, artistic ability is less im portant than it is for hand work. Machine work, on the other hand, calls for much more mechanical skill than does hand work, as the duties of the different classes of workers involved suggest. O utlook The employment outlook for experienced lino type (and intertype) operators during the early fifties is fairly good in the country as a whole. There will also be some training opportunities, although not as many as during the first year or two after World War II when several thousand newcomers were taken on for training (total of hand and machine programs). Because of the large number of young men who will be going into the Armed Forces, the number of job seekers will be somewhat smaller. Top-skilled men, with ex perience in hand as well as machine compo sition, and with supervisory and managerial abilities, will find some immediate openings in salaried positions or will have good chances for advancement to such jobs. Some ex-servicemen and others wishing to go into business for them selves may find favorable opportunities to do so; those with good all-round civilian experience will have the best chances of success. The long-range outlook, too, is reasonably favor able—more so than for hand compositors, for ex ample. Employment has tended to rise over the years and should continue to do so for some time. Eventually, however, technological and other fac- C O U R TE S Y OF U . S . G O V E R N M E N T P R IN T IN G O F F IC E Lin o typ e operator at the keyboard of a linotype m achine. tors may lead to a stable or even a declining trend in employment. On the other hand, printing is less affected by declines in general business activity than many other manufacturing industries. E a rn in g s and U n io niza tio n Linotype operators tend to have much the same rates of pay as hand compositors. (See p. 311.) A large proportion, if not the great majority, of linotypists are represented by the International Typographical Union (AFL). Monotype Keyboard Operators (D. O. T. 4-44.120) O utlook S u m m a ry Enough jobs likely for all qualified journeymen in this small occupation during the early fifties; also a limited number of openings for apprentices. Long-range trend of employment upward. N a tu re o f W o rk An important step forward in typesetting was the invention of the monotype keyboard and mon 312 otype casting machines. In contrast to the solid lines cast in linotyping, these later machines make possible the automatic casting of individual let ters and other type characters, and also the auto matic assembling of type into the long shallow trays, known as galleys (see p. 309). Monotyping thus retains some of the flexibility of hand compo sition, while offering advantages of machine oper ation. PRINTING OCCUPATIONS The monotype keyboard is similar to a type writer keyboard, but has some 200 keys. Unlike the linotype, which does the whole typesetting job, the monotype keyboard machine only perforates a narrow roll of paper for use later in a separate casting machine. The workers who operate the keyboard and make the many different adjustments needed are called monotype keyboard operators (sometimes simply monotype operators.) They are a small occupational group with only about 6*000 em ployed in 1940. The number in mid-1950 was probably no more than half again as great. Most monotypists work for book or periodical houses; some few, for job and service shops. In general, qualifications for employment are the same as for linotype operators. Outlook In few, if any, parts of the country where monotype operators a r| employed will qualified jour neymen have any difficulty finding jobs within the 1950 decade—especially if general business conditions remain favorable. In addition, em ployers will have an increasing number of open ings for apprentices as the number of craftsmen grows. The actual number of training oppor tunities will not be large, however, because total employment in the occupation will remain small. The long-range trend in employment in the field is upward. Men already in the trade and those who enter it in the near future should have a good chance of holding their jobs indefinitely. Those who are adept in hand composition and in linotyp ing as well as in monotype keyboard operation are likely to have the greatest job security. Big printing centers will generally offer the most job openings, but also the keenest competi tion for employment. In the long run, more and more jobs are likely to be found in smaller cities, to which book and job plants have been moving gradually over the years. Earnings and Unionization Wage rates for monotype keyboard operators are generally the same as for linotype operators and hand compositors in book and j ob shops. (See table p. 310). A large proportion, if not the great majority, of monotype keyboard operators are represented by the International Typographical Union (AFL). Monotype Caster Operators (D. O. T. 6-49.310) Outlook Summary Limited number of openings for new workers in this small occupation during early fifties. Longrange employment trend upward. Nature of Work Workers in this occupation operate the mono type casting machines, referred to in the state ment on Monotype Keyboard Operators, p. 312. These machines cast and assemble type automat ically, guided by the perforations in the rolls of paper prepared by the monotype keyboard oper ators. Caster operators not only adjust and tend the machines but usually are required to know the mechanism in order to make repairs. In shops having several casting machines, the operator may supervise unskilled workers who tend the ma chines. Taking the printing industry as a whole, only one caster operator has been employed to every two or three keyboard operators, as of early 1950. The occupation is, therefore, very small, employ ing only about 2,000 workers in 1940 and prob ably not more than three or four thousand in 1949. The types of plants using caster operators are the same as for keyboard operators—chiefly book and periodical houses and, to some extent, job and service shops. Qualifications for Employment Most newcomers to this occupation learn to oper ate the machine at a monotype school. Training is then completed on the job. This experience is especially needed for the more skilled and better paying jobs in the occupation, which require an understanding of the mechanism of the caster and the ability to make adjustments and repairs. Per sons entering the occupation should be physically strong and in good health. 313 OCCUPATIONAL OUTLOOK HANDBOOK O utlook There will be more openings for newcomers dur ing the early fifties than there were in the late thirties—but only a limited number at best, since the occupation will remain small. As the number of monotype keyboard machines in use increases, job prospects for trainee monotype caster opera tors will become more favorable. . Total employment is likely to increase steadily, although only slightly, over the long run. The rise will be, however, at a faster rate than in mono type keyboard operation. Under fairly normal general business conditions, experienced workers should have little difficulty in obtaining jobs, with good chances for continued employment for many years. E a rn in g s a n d U n ionization Most monotype-caster operators have about the same wage rates as linotypists, monotype-keyboard operators, and composing room craftsmen outside the newspaper industry. (See table, p. 310.) However, caster operators without responsibility for adjustments or repairs earn less. P h o to g r a p h by U . S. d e p a r tm e n t o f Labo r M o n otype caster operator a d ju stin g position of n e w ly cast type as it com es out of the m achine. A large proportion, if not the great majority, of operators are represented by the International Typographical Union (AFL). Proofreaders (D. O. T. 1-10.07) O u tlook S u m m a ry Number of jobs in the early fifties will remain about the same as in 1949. Slight increase in em ployment over the longer run. Most proofread ing jobs go to persons already employed in printing industries. N a ture o f TY ork These workers guard against error in the final printed product. For this purpose, it is custom ary to make proofs of type set-ups and read these carefully against the original copy. In small shops, journeymen typesetters and advanced ap prentices may do the proofreading. In most large plants, however, particularly in the newspaper, book, and periodical industries, there are special proofreaders. The work is done in one of two ways. Either the proofreader puts the proof and the copy side 314 by side and reads one against the other, a line at a time, or he has the material read to him by a copy holder while he follows the proof. Where there are errors, he notes the corrections needed, using standard proofreaders’ marks. Q ualifications fo r E m p lo y m e n t Workers usually enter the occupation from an other composing-room job or a front-office job with the same company. Skilled compositors and composing-machine operators who are no longer able to do typesetting at the speeds required may take positions as proofreaders. Those who do so, keep their journeyman status, at least in union shops. A knowledge of grammar, spelling, and punc tuation is very important to help the proofreader find and correct errors. The work requires good eyesight and good hearing. PRINTING OCCUPATIONS O utlook Employment of proofreaders in the early fifties will remain at about the 1949 level. Altogether, about 5,000 proofreaders were employed in 1940, including a good many women. The number em ployed in mid-1950 is estimated to have been about 20 or 25 percent greater. Most of the job open ings arising from turnover will be filled by work ers already employed in the printing industries. There will also be a few openings for men and women with some outside experience related to proofreading. Persons completely new to the field will usually have little, if any, chance for jobs. The long-range trend in employment will prob ably continue to be upward. Those already in the occupation in early 1950 and those who enter it soon thereafter should have a good chance of hold ing their positions indefinitely. E a rn in g s and U n io niza tio n Wage rates for proofreaders in union shops are generally the same as for hand compositors (see p. 310). Nonunion shops are likely to pay less, particularly to women. Some union contracts provide lower scales for proofreaders who have never qualified as hand compositors. Electrotypers and Stereotypers (D. O. T. 4-45.010 and .210) O utlook S u m m a ry A limited number of openings for apprentices in the early fifties. Long-range trend slowly up ward. N a tu re o f W o rk From the composing room, type forms often go to the electrotyping or stereotyping department (or to an independent service shop doing such work for printing firms). Electrotyping and stereotyping are two different processes, having the same purpose—making duplicate press plates from the type forms. One reason why it may be necessary to use such plates, instead of printing directly from the forms, is that a number of plates made exactly the same may be needed (any num ber can be turned out by either electrotyping or stereotyping). When a large edition of a book or magazine is printed, several plates must be used one after the other to prevent the printing surfaces from be coming too worn to make clear impressions. By means of duplicate plates, printers can also use several presses on the same job, at the same time, and thus finish a big run quickly. This is espe cially important in publishing daily newspapers, since a plant may have to rush many thousands of papers onto the streets with news that is no more than an hour or two old. Furthermore, the rotary presses used in many big plants require curved plates (which can be made by either process), and type forms are always flat. The usual first step in both processes is the mak ing of a mold of the type form. In electrotyping, wax and plastic molds are the most common, al though lead or some other metal is also used. To make a wax or plastic mold, the electrotyper lays the type form on the bed of a power molding press, E le c tro ty p e r placing w ax mold on top of type form w h ich is on bed of pow er m olding press. P h o to g r a p h by U. S. D e p a r t m ent of labor 315 OCCUPATIONAL, OUTLOOK HANDBOOK and covers it with a wax-coated sheet of metal or with a sheet of plastic. He then applies the pres sure and obtains an impression of the type form in the wax or plastic. To produce a final metal plate ready for use in the pressroom, a metallic shell must be deposited on the mold, stripped from it, backed with metal, and carefully finished and mounted. First the electrotyper makes the wax or plastic mold electroconductive, by coating it with copper sulphate or nickel solution (in the case of a wax mold) or a thin film of metallic silver (in the case of a plastic mold). The mold is then suspended in an appro priate electrolytic solution, which is used to obtain a metallic shell deposit on the coated mold. Strip ping, backing, finishing, and mounting follow in order. The stereotyping process is much simpler, quick er, and less expensive than electrotyping, but it does not yield as fine a plate. Stereotypers make molds of papier macbe (a strong material com posed of paper pulp) instead of wax or lead. This work involves placing a damp papier mache pad (in newspaper printing, usually a dry mat) on top of the type form and running both through a rolling machine. After the paper mold has been dried, it is used in casting a composition-lead plate, which needs only trimming to be ready for the pressroom. Journeymen electrotypers and stereotypers must know how to handle all the tasks involved in their respective processes, although in practice they are often assigned to only one phase of the work. Electrotypers work mainly in large book and periodical plants, while stereotypers are princi pally employed in newspaper plants or in shops servicing newspaper publishers. In workrooms where electrotyping or stereotyp ing is done, there are frequently fumes and dust, and the temperature and humidity are often ex tremely high. Moreover, the work involves lift ing of very heavy plates and type forms. Persons entering the occupations should be sufficiently strong and healthy to work under these condi tions, although they are being increasingly miti gated in large part through scientific air-condi tioning, mechanical conveyors, and other means. Qualifications Wage rates for electrotypers tend to be higher than those for any other printing trade, except photoengravers. Those for stereotypers are fre quently lower than for electrotypers. The average union wage scale for electrotypers in effect on July 1, 1950, was about $2.70 an hour in the principal cities in which they are employed in book and job printing. Bates ranged from $1.88 an hour, in Syracuse, 17. Y., to almost $3.00 an hour in New York City, and Newark, N. J. To qualify for either type of work, a 5- or 6-year apprenticeship is usually required. Training is quite different for each trade; rarely do journey men change from one occupation to the other. Young men who wish to become electrotyper or stereotyper apprentices need about the same edu cational qualifications as are required for all print ing trades. In addition, mechanical training and courses in chemistry and metallurgy are useful. 316 Outlook Although not much, if any, increase in employ ment is expected during the early fifties, journey men electrotypers and stereotypers will generally find it fairly easy to get jobs. Under collective bargaining agreements, of the type which have been in effect for many years, a limited number of training opportunities for newcomers may be ex pected in this period—fewer than during the first year or two after World War II. Some men with all-round experience and managerial abilities will be able to go into business for themselves, with fair chances of success. But these are small occupa tions, employing in mid-1950 roughly 10,000 jour neymen and probably 1,000 or so apprentices. The total number of job openings resulting from the need to replace workers who die or who retire or leave the occupation for other reasons, will therefore average no more than a few hundred each year. The long-range trend in employment has been and is likely to continue to be slowly upward in these occupations. Men already in the trades in mid-1950 or about to complete their training have a good chance of holding their jobs indefinitely. Earnings and Unionization PRINTING OCCUPATIONS (See following tabulation.) Almost half the city scales were $2.85 an hour and up. The highest scales were found principally in cities with heavy concentrations of electrotyper jobs. The bulk of the men covered were earning upward of $2.70 an hour. Newspaper stereotyper rates ranged from $1.99 an hour, in Duluth, Minn., to $2.81 an hour in Chicafio, 111. Their average rate of about $2.52 was 17 cents an hour less than that for electro typers in book and job work, but probably also much less than that for the smaller number of stereotypers in book and job work. Over half the newspaper stereotypers were on pay scales rang ing from $2.30 to $2.55 an hour. The minimum union wage scales for electro typers and stereotypers as of July 1, 1950, for most of the important printing centers are shown in the following tabulation. Stereotypers (Book Electrotypers and job) (Newspapers) f\nta Ga At,llltbll Baltimore IMd. Birmingham, Ala Boston, Mass_ JJ UH N. Y Buffalo Butte M o n t__ - Charleston, W. Va Charlotte N . C Ohattanooera. Tenn Chicago. Ill Cincinnati, Ohio Cleveland. Ohio Columbus Ohio Dallas Tex - Davenport Iowa Dayton Ohio Denver Colo Des Moines, Iowa Detroit, Mich_ Duluth Minn FI Paso XJ1 JLCitJVj Tex xva- --- --------—---Fri p Pa, Grand Rapids, Mich Houston Tex Indianapolis, Ind ville PI a. Kansas City, Mo Knoxville Tenn Little Rock, Ark w - -----------------------------------------------------------— K JC vy — ------------------ - - - ------------- C v ± \J y a y --------------------------------------- A i l - — — ------------- - - - - (Tj a O rl Vd irVsDnvnl l V l l l v y y J - A M I — — — — — — — ------------------ $2. 45 2. 32 2. 25 2. 58 2. 37 2. 38 2. 13 2. 10 2. 29 2. 53-2. 81 2. 48 2. 44 2. 41 2. 45 2. 14 2. 34 2. 36 2. 39 2. 65 1. 99 2. 18 2. 11 2. 34 2. 31 2. 49 2. 39 2. 37 2. 29 2. 18 $2. 45 2. 00 2. 44 2. 30 2. 20 2. 94 2. 38 2. 60 2. 35 2. 44 1. 96 2. 39 2. 32 2. 40 2. 83 2. 40 2. 44 2. 38 2. 37 Stereotypers (Newspapers) Los Angeles, Calif Louisville, Ky Manchester, N. H Memphis, Tenn Miami, Fla Milwaukee, Wis Minneapolis, Minn Mobile, Ala Moline, 111 Newark, N. J New Haven, Conn New Orleans, La New York, N. Y Norfolk, Va________________ Oakland, Calif Oklahoma City, Okla Omaha, Nebr Philadelphia, Pa Phoenix, Ariz Pittsburgh, Pa Portland, Maine Portland, Oreg Providence, R. I Reading, Pa Richmond, Va Rochester, N. Y Rock Island (111.) district___ St. Louis, Mo St. Paul, Minn Salt Lake City, Utah San Antonio, Tex San Francisco, Calif Savannah, Ga Scranton, Pa Seattle, Wash South Bend, Ind Spokane, Wash Springfield, Mass Syracuse, N. Y Toledo, Ohio Washington, D. C Wichita, Kans Worcester, Mass York, Pa Youngstown, Ohio $2. 35 2. 41 2. 08 2. 31 2. 52 2. 40 2. 52 2. 19 2. 14 2. 40 2. 10 2. 18 2. 43 2. 28 2. 52 2. 33 2. 25 2. 33 2. 35 2. 37 2. 00 2. 49 2. 36 2. 16 2. 16 2. 32 2. 22 2. 40 2. 38 2. 23 2. 20 2. 52 2. 13 2. 30 2. 71 2. 25 2. 43 2. 00 2. 27 2. 48 2. 30 2. 11 2. 32 2. 00 2. 24 Electrotypers (Book and job) $2. 69 2. 25 2. 48 2. 64 1. 96 2. 96 2. 33 2. 30 2. 96 2. 64 2. 33 2. 00 2. 77 2. 00 2. 64 2. 30 2. 03 2. 01 2. 35 2. 64 2. 64 2. 18 2. 79 2.35 2. 38 1. 88 2. 34 1 2. 56 2. 30 2. 09 1Excludes Government Printing Office. In both occupations, the proportion of workers organized—by the International Stereotypers’ and Electro typers’ Union (AFL)—is extremely high. This is one of the six major unions of printing workers. 317 OCCUPATIONAL OUTLOOK HANDBOOK Photoengravers (D. O. T. 4-47.100) O utlook S u m m a ry The very few employment opportunities for newcomers expected each year will result largely from replacement needs. Long-run trend in em ployment has been very slowly upward, but may level off in the early fifties, or possibly decline slightly. N a tu re o f W o rk Photoengravers enter into the printing process when copy to be reproduced by letterpress includes pictures or designs. The photoengraving depart ment supplies the composing room with any needed plates of illustrations and other material that cannot be set up in type. On these plates, the printing surfaces stand out in relief above the nonprinting spaces, as do the letters on the accom panying type. Photoengravers are skilled journeymen, able to handle all the operations involved in the process. The entire job of producing a plate (photoengrav ing) may be done by one man, or the work may be divided among a number of photoengravers and the men then referred to as photographers, printers, etchers, finishers, routers, blockers, or provers, depending on the particular phase of work handled. The latter arrangement is fre quently found in large shops; it is the method more commonly used. A camera-man starts the process by photograph ing the material to be reproduced (using the nec essary screens or color filters) and developing the negative. Making a print from the negative on a metal plate coated with sensitized solution is the job of a p rin ter. A coating placed over the image areas of the plate hardens by exposure to light during the printing process or as a result of fur ther chemical treatment and protects these areas against the acid into which the plate is put by an etcher , whose job is to “cut” away the background areas by means of this acid, leaving the image standing out in relief. After that, a few more operations remain—including finishing (careful inspection and touching up with hand tools), routing (cutting away metal from the nonprinting 318 parts of the plate to prevent them from touching the inking roller during printing), blocking (mounting the engraving on a wooden block to make it the right height), and proving (printing a sample copy on a proof press). Upwards of eleven or twelve thousand men were engaged as journeymen photoengravers in early 1950. They are most numerous in service shops where the main business is making photoengrav ings for use bv others; many craftsmen have their own shops. Newspaper plants, book and periodi cal houses, the United States Government Plant ing Office, and the United States Bureau of En graving and Printing also employ, together, a considerable number of such photoengravers. Q ualifications fo r E m p lo y m en t A 6-year apprenticeship is generally required to become a journeyman. The training covers all phases of the process and includes 864 hours of classroom instruction. At least some of the skills acquired are readily adaptable to one or two phases of the lithographic process (see p. 325). In early 1950, the bulk of apprentices were registered with the union only, this figure then being close to 3,000. Since photoengravers’ duties involve constant P h oto en g ra ver (ro u te r) c u ttin g av/ay metal from n on p rin tin g areas of a plate. P h o to g r a p h by U . S. d e p a r tm e n t of Labor PRINTING OCCUPATIONS close work, good eyesight is essential in this occu pation. Because of the work with acids and other chemicals which give off fumes, the occupation is not a good one for people with respiratory dis abilities. Many employers require physical ex aminations for prospective photoengravers, test ing both eyes and lungs. Courses which photoengravers will find helpful in addition to those indicated as desirable for all printing work ers (see p. 305) include chemistry and metallurgy. Earnings and Unionization Photoengravers are among the highest paid printing craftsmen. In both book and job and newspaper work the average minimum union wage scale in the 77 cities covered was $2.84 an hour on July 1, 1950. The top rates in each case were ($3.14 and $2.92 respectively). The lowest scale was $2.13 for book and job photoengravers. Over half the photoengravers earned more than $2.70 an hour. Union minimum wage scales for photoengravers as of July 1, 1950 in most of the important print ing centers, are shown in the following tabulation: Newspapers $2. 61 Atlanta, Ga 2. 68 Baltimore, Md 2. 45 Birmingham, Ala_ _ _ 2. 70 Boston, Mass ___ 2. 73 Buffalo, N. Y _ Charlotte, N. C 2. 13 Chattanooga, Tenn 2. 92 Chicago, 111 2. 75 Cincinnati, Ohio 2. 76-2. 81 Cleveland, Ohio _ 2. 84 Columbus Ohio Dallas, Tex Davenport Iowa 2. 48 Dayton, Ohio _ _ 2. 57 Denver, Colo 2. 48 Des Moines, Iowa 2. 75-2. 89 Detroit, Mich 2. 32 Duluth, Minn__ (Trn.nH 2. 67 V JI 1 CllllU. R X tnw /n p iid v l us j M i f x i i oh v u --- ---— —— 2. 59 Houston, Tex 2. 65 Indianapolis, Ind2. 39 Jacksonville, Fla _ _ 2. 68 Kansas City, Mo 2. 13 Knoxville, Tenn 2. 64 Los Angeles, Calif 2. 65 Louisville, Ky Manchester N. H 2. 60 Menrnhis. Tenn__ Book and job shops $2. 56 2. 45-2. 67 2. 45 2. 45 2. 47 2.37 3. 00-3. 06 2. 53 2. 67-2. 86 2. 31-2. 53 2. 25 2. 18 2. 53 2. 35 2. 48 2. 67-2. 80 2. 13 2. 58 2. 53 2. 20 2. 40 2. 20 2. 67 2. 15-2. 53 2. 40 2. 44 Newspapers Miami, Fla Milwaukee, Wis Minneapolis, Minn Moline, 111__ Newark, N. J New Haven, Conn New Orleans, La New York, N. Y ___________ Norfolk, Ya _ _ Oakland, Calif Oklahoma City, Okla Omaha, Nebr Peoria, 111 Philadelphia, Pa Pittsburgh, Pa Portland, Maine Portland, Oreg Providence, R. I Richmond, Va Rochester, N. Y Rock Island (111.) district___ St. Louis, Mo St. Paul, Minn Salt Lake City, Utah San Antonio, Tex San Francisco, Calif _ Scranton, Pa _ Seattle, WashSouth Bend, Ind __ Springfield, Mass Syracuse, N. Y Toledo, Ohio__ Washington, D. C Wichita, Kans _ __ Worcester, Mass __ _ Youngstown, Ohio__ $2. 71 2. 68 2. 56 2. 23 2. 92 2. 23 2. 71 2. 59 2. 48 2. 48 2. 75 2. 71 2. 14 2. 62 2. 68 2. 38 2. 80 2. 26 2. 71 2. 67 2. 40 2. 47 2. 71 2. 88 2. 77 2. 27 2. 67 2. 79 2. 77 2. 45-2. 58 2. 51 2. 40 Book and job shops $2. 40 2. 66 2. 53 2. 18 3. 06 2. 27 2. 13 3. C6-3. 14 2. 13 2. 67 2. 13 2. 45 2. 27 2. 76 2. 58 2. 67 2. 45 2. 13 2. 55 2. 27 2. 45 2. 73 2. 40 2. 47 2. 80 2. 13 2. 79 2. 40 2. 27 2.41 2. 23 *2. 59 2. 45 2. 27 2. 40 •Government Printing Office: $2.63. Photoengravers are almost completely organ ized by the International Photo-Engravers’ Union of North America (AFL), one of the six major unions of printing workers. Outlook Employment of photoengravers rose substan tially during 1945, 1946, and 1947, but leveled off in 1948 and 1949. In the next several years and also over the longer run, replacement needs rather than expansion will provide the bulk of job openings. In 1939, journeymen photoengravers numbered about 10,000, but many were unemployed. There was, on the average, 1 apprentice to every 10 or 319 OCCUPATIONAL OUTLOOK HANDBOOK 12 employed craftsmen, the ratio varying from area to area and from shop to shop; some shops offered no training opportunities of any kind. During World War II, a shortage of skilled workers, trainees, and trainee replacements de veloped, primarily because of workers going into the Armed Forces and transferring to war indus tries. In the immediate postwar years, employers, in order to make up for the labor shortage, meet normal replacement needs, and handle the increas ing demand for photoengraving, hired virtually all qualified journeymen who were available and took on many more trainees than usual. Generally, it was still not difficult for craftsmen to obtain jobs during 1948 and 1949, although apprenticeship opportunities in particular had become con siderably fewer than in the immediate postwar period. In the early fifties and thereafter, the number of openings for trainees is not likely to exceed two or three hundred in any one year. Some very few persons may find favorable opportunities to go into business for themselves; generally, those with good all-round experience in the field will have the best chances of success. The over-all outlook appears to be for fairly stable employment during the fifties although the number of jobs may possibly decline slightly. Rotogravure Photoengravers (D. O. T. 4-47.100) Outlook Summary Expanding field, but likely to remain small for many years. As a result, there will be at most only a few job opportunities for trainees each year. Nature of Work Rotogravure photoengravers, like photoengrav ers (p. 318) and lithographic process workers (p. 325), make plates for use in reproducing pictures, but these are gravure plates with the image etched, below the surface. The printing has to be done on special rotogravure presses, and often the entire process, from preparation of the plates through printing, is carried out in separate plants special izing in this kind of work. Rotogravure photoengravers are a very highly skilled group. Like regular photoengravers, they are required to know all phases of the photoen graving process, more particularly, the rotogra vure process, although they usually specialize in one of them. The operations which they handle are much like those involved in photoengraving, except that a positive (instead of a negative) is used in making the plate, and it is the image (rather than the background) areas which are etched away. A few large newspaper and commercial plants have departments which reproduce pictures by this method. However, rotogravure men are em ployed mainly in independent rotogravure plants. Most of them work for a small number (perhaps 320 a dozen or so) big firms which handle a large pro portion of all rotogravure work. Qualifications for Employment It is possible to enter the occupation either by a 6-year apprenticeship in a rotogravure shop or by transferring from photoengraving. Photoen gravers are usually required to complete a proba tionary training period before being classified as skilled rotogravure men. The qualifications needed by apprentices are the same for rotogra vure work as for photoengraving. A number of the nearly 3,000 young people reported to be in training under registered “photoengraving” ap prenticeship programs in early 1950 are actually preparing for rotogravure jobs. (See p. 318). Rotogravure is a relatively new process, which was being used increasingly before World War II and has made rapid gains since the war’s end. In the entire country, however, there were fewer than 2,000 journeymen employed in rotogravure work in mid-1950. Young men seeking apprentice ship opportunities have always had difficulty breaking into rotogravure photoengraving. During World War II, the amount of rotograv ure printing was somewhat reduced, and a large proportion of the journeymen and apprentices either went into the armed services or transferred to photoengraving. However, the postwar return to prewar output of rotogravure was rapid. The prewar level of activity was soon surpassed, and PRINTING OCCUPATIONS expansion has continued steadily through early 1950, especially in the magazine publishing field. But the need for additional personnel and replace ments since the war’s end has been met in large part by the return of craftsmen to the trade and the transfer of letterpress photoengravers to rotogravure. Since the occupation is expected to go on expanding for an indefinite period, there should be increasing opportunities for newcomers in the years ahead, although only a small number of openings in any one year. Earnings and Unionization Rotogravure men are among the best paid print ing craftsmen. Generally, their wage scales are above even the comparatively high rates for pho toengravers doing letterpress work. Bates shown for photoengravers in the table on page 319 in clude those for rotogravure photoengravers. Rotogravure photoengravers, like regular pho toengravers, are practically all represented by the International Photo-Engravers’ Union (AFL). Printing Pressmen and Assistants (Letterpress and Gravure) (D. O. T. 4-48.010; .020, .030, and .060; 6-49.410, .420, and .430) adjustments—for example, those controlling mar gins the flow of ink to the inking roller. In Fairly strong demand for journeymen pressmen some and shops, they are responsible not only for tend in early fifties. Opportunities more limited for ing the presses also for oiling and cleaning apprentices and press assistants during this period. them and makingbutat least repairs. In many Long-range outlook also generally favorable for cases they have assistants minor whose work they super pressmen, but probably not for assistants. vise. Pressmen’s work may vary greatly from one type Nature of Work of shop to another, because of differences in the Type forms from composing rooms, press plates kinds and sizes of presses used and for other rea from electrotyping and stereotyping departments, sons. Small commercial shops, many of which and rotogravure and lithographic plates all go to are owned and run by pressmen themselves in part a pressroom for use in printing. In small shops,* nership with compositors, generally have small and this department may consist of only one or two relatively simple platen (or job) presses that are small presses in a back room or a corner of the often fed paper by hand. shop. In big plants, however, pressrooms are large. At the other extreme are the big newspaper Many workers and, frequently, huge presses are plants with their tremendous web-rotary presses. employed. These machines may be so heavy and These giant presses are fed paper in big rolls (or create so much vibration that the department has webs). They print the paper on both sides by to be located on the ground floor or in the basement. means of a series of cylinders; cut the pages and assemble and fold them; and, finally, count the P ressmen . (D. O. T. 48.010, .020, .303 and .060). finished newspaper sections which emerge from Skilled pressmen are the key workers in the de press ready for the mailing room. These steps partment. Their basic duties are to “make-ready” the are accomplished automatically by means of many and then tend the presses while in operation. The different mechanisms, each of which calls for re object of the make-ready, which is one of the most peated attention a run is being made. delicate and difficult parts of the work, is to insure Presses of the kindwhile described above are therefore printing impressions that are distinct and even, and neither too dark nor too light. This is ac operated by crews of journeymen and less-skilled complished by such means as placing pieces of workers directed by a pressman-in-charge. Other types of presses on which men specialize paper of exactly the right thickness underneath are those used in offset printing (see p. 325), and low areas of the press plate or type form to level it, the rotogravure press, a rotary press with a “doc and attaching pieces of tissue paper to the surface of the cylinder or flat platen which makes the im tor” blade which scrapes the surplus ink off the pression. Pressmen also have to make many other surface of the plate. Outlook Summary 321 OCCUPATIONAL OUTLOOK HANDBOOK P Pressm an using paper to level plate. P ress A ssistants. (D. O. T. 6-49.410, .420, and .430). The duties of press assistants range from merely feeding sheets of paper into hand-fed presses to helping pressmen make ready and op erate large and complicated rotary presses. Work ers whose main responsibility is feeding are often referred to simply as feeders. Helping in web-rotary work in newspaper plants are men commonly known as flyboys. They pick up the newspapers as they come off the press and load them onto hand trucks; they also wheel the trucks out of the pressroom and do other work. The ratio of assistants to pressmen varies greatly from one establishment to another, depending on size of the plant, type of press used, and other factors. Many shops are too small to have any pressroom helpers. 322 h o to g r a p h by U. S. D e p a r t m ent of labo r Press is a sm all flatbed c y lin d e r press fo r letterpress p rin tin g. Q ualifications To become a skilled pressman requires 3 to 5 years of apprenticeship in most instances; in newspaper work, almost always 5 years. Usually, men receive training in only one type of press, and opinion differs as to how readily journeymen can become skilled on other types of presses. The length of the apprenticeship and the content of the training depend largely on the kind of press involved. Individual companies choose apprentices gen erally from among press assistants and others al ready employed in the company. Thus, an ap prentice often has worked for 2 or 3 years in the pressroom before starting the 3- to 5-year training period leading to journeyman status. To be se PRINTING OCCUPATIONS lected for training, one must have completed at least the eighth grade in school; some employers require high-school graduation. Since pressmen often have to blend their own inks, a knowledge of color is necessary. Art courses are therefore very helpful. Physical strength and endurance are necessary for work on some kinds of presses, where the press man has to lift heavy type forms and press plates and be on his feet all day. Mechanical aptitude is also important in making press adjustments and repairs. Outlook P ressm en . During the early fifties, employment is not likely to change much from the 1948-49 levels. Vacancies arising as a result of deaths, re tirements, promotions, and other causes will aver age around a thousand each year, providing ap prenticeship openings for many non journeymen already employed in pressrooms or other depart ments of printing firms and even some outsiders. In mid-1950, there were more than 5,000 pressmen apprentices and about 40,000 journeymen. Press men made up the third largest group of printing craftsmen in 1940, and probably still held this position 10 years later. Over the long run, a gradual growth of employ ment can be expected, although technological de velopments may limit this expansion. The effect of technical and other changes which tend to re duce labor requirements is likely to be at least partially offset by increasing demands for print ing and the continued shortening of the workweek. P ress A ssistants . With an average of one helper to about every three journeymen, no more than a few hundred newcomers may expect to find em ployment during any one year of the early fifties or the years immediately following. Before World War II, the printing industries tended not to fill all of the vacancies created through normal losses of assistants. A resumption of this practice is likely and perhaps has already started. Declin ing employment may once more mark the occupa tion, at least as a long-run tendency. But lay-offs of journeymen will occur only in exceptional circumstances. Earnings and Unionization Wage rates of pressmen vary with the make and style of press operated, as well as with the type of printing plant and other factors. They tend to be the highest in the newspaper industry (see fol lowing tabulation). A range of $1.10 to about $3 an hour for day work is indicated for the four skilled groups cov ered by the Bureau of Labor Statistics taken to gether: Newspaper pressmen-in-charge and jour neymen pressmen and book and job cylinder press men and platen pressmen. (In the Bureau of La bor Statistics data, the so-called “cylinder press men” group includes also other non-platen press men.) Hourly rates for book and job press assist ants and feeders ranged from about 90 cents in Portland, Maine, to approximately $2.55 for some workers in Chicago. The Bureau of Labor Statistics survey of union wage scales in 77 cities as of July 1, 1950 showed that the average hourly rate for newspaper press men-in-charge was $2.74; for newspaper journey men, $2.55; for book and job cylinder pressmen, $2.40; for book and job platen pressmen, $2.12; for book and job press assistants and feeders, $1.94. The July 1950 minimum union hourly wage scales (day work) for most of the important print ing centers in the selected pressroom occupations listed are shown in the following table. Pressroom workers are usually covered by union agreements. Practically all the letterpress and rotogravure pressmen and assistants who are or ganized belong to the International Printing Pressmen’s and Assistants’ Union of North Amer ica (AFL). 323 OCCUPATIONAL OUTLOOK HANDBOOK T a b l e 1.— U n io n w age scales in im p o rta n t p rin tin g centers in selected p ressro om o ccu p a tio n s , J u ly 1 , 1 95 0 Newspapers Book and job shops Journeymen press Pressmen-in-charge Cylinder pressmen Platen pressmen men Atlanta, Ga________ _____ _________ ____ _________ Baltimore, M d___________________________________ Birmingham, Ala_— _____________________________ Boston, Mass_____ ____ _ _______________ ______ Buffalo, N. Y ____________________________________ Butte, Mont __________ ____ __________ _________ Charleston, W. Va__________ .. _ _ ___ ___ __ Charlotte, N. C_________ ___________ _ _ __ Chattanooga, Tenn____ _________ _______________ Chicago, 111--_____________________ ___ _______ Cincinnati, Ohio _____________ _________________ Cleveland, Ohio_____ ________ _____ ________ Columbus, Ohio____ __ _________________________ Dallas, Tex_______________________________________ Davenport, Iowa________ _______________________ Dayton, Ohio ________________________________ Denver, Colo_________ __ _ __ ___________ _____ Des Moines, Iowa_________________ ______________ Detroit, Mich____________________________________ Duluth, Minn____ ____________ _______ ________ El Paso, Tex____________________ ____ __________ Erie, P a ___________ ____ _ __ ________________ Grand Rapids, Mich_______ _____________________ Houston, Tex. ___________ ______________________ Indianapolis, Ind_________________________________ Jacksonville, Fla ____________________________ Kansas City, Mo _ _ _ ______ ____ __________ ____ Knoxville, Tenn_________________ ______________ Little Rock, Ark _ _ _ _ _ _____ _ _ Los Angeles, Calif__ _______________________ _____ Louisville, K y________________________ __ _______ Manchester, N. H ____ __________ ______________ Memphis, Tenn _ _____ _____________ __ ________ Miami, Fla_____________ ___________ ____________ Milwaukee, Wis________ _ _______ __ ________ Minneapolis, Minn____ ___ _________ ___________ Mobile, Ala__ _ _ __________________ ______ ___ Moline, 111______________ ______________________ Newark, N. J______ __ __ ____________________ ___ New Haven, Conn___ __________________________ New Orleans, La_______________________ ________ New York, N. Y _________________________________ Norfolk, Va _____'___ ________________________ Oakland, Calif____________________________________ Oklahoma City, Okla _ _ _ __ _____ ________ _ Omaha, Nebr___ ____ ____ _____________________ _ Peoria, 111____________ ______________ _____ ____ Philadelphia, Pa _______________________________ Phoenix, Ariz - _ _ _ _ _ __________________ __ _ Pittsburgh, Pa___________________ _ _ ________ Portland, Maine _______ _________ __ _ _ _ Portland, O reg... ______ _ ______ _______ ______ Providence, R. I__ ________________ _____________ Reading, Pa.. ______________ __ _______________ Richmond, Va_ - ____________ __________ ______ Rochester, N. Y_______________ ______________ Rock Island, I B ____ _____ ________ ___ __ ________ St. Louis, M o . . . ____ __ ________ ______________ St. Paul, Minn___ _ _____ __________ ________ ___ Salt Lake City, U ta h ...___ _______ ___ ________ San Antonio, Tex___ ___ _ ._ _________________ San Francisco, Calif_______ __ __ ___ __ ________ Savannah, Ga__________ ____ _ __ __ ________ Scranton, Pa _____ _ _ ______ ___-_ _________ Seattle, Wash, ______________ _________________ South Bend, Ind___________________________ *____ Spokane, Wash___________________________________ Springfield, Mass _____________________________ Syracuse, N. Y _________________ ___ __ _________ Toledo, Ohio_____________________________________ Washington, D. C___________________ __ _________ Wichita, Kans_____________________ ____________ Worcester, Mass___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ __ York, Pa -_ _ _____ __ _ _ __ Youngstown, Ohio ------ -----------------------------------1 Pressmen, first, $1.88 ; pressmen, second, $1.81. 2 Excludes Government Printing Office. 324 $2.45 2.52-2.59 2.25 2.33-2.45 2.37-2.57 2.36 2.05 2.10 2.29 2.41-2.67 2.46 2.42-2.78 2.40 2.40 2.14 2.39 2.36-2.43 2.37 2.52-2.59 2.07 2.18 2.11 2.22 2.24 2.41 2.39 2.40 2.29 2.18 2.40 2. 41 2.00 2. 31 2.62 2.40-2. 50 2. 52 2.19 2.14 2.48 2.10 2.15 2.61-2. 76 2. 28 2. 53 2. 41 2.18 2.28 2.27-2. 47 2.35 2.34 2.00 2. 42 2.36 2.16 2.16 2. 41 2.22 2.40 2.37 2.23 2.20 2. 53 2.13 2. 26 2.53 2. 41 1.95 2. 21 2.38-2. 47 2. 42 1.97 2.20 2.00 2.13 $2.67 2.52 2.41 2.51-2.64 2. 57 2.48 2.28 2.43 2.59-2.72 2.59 2.66-2.78 2.53 2.62 2.30 2.52 2.49 2. 53 2.72-2.79 2.21 2.24 2.32 2. 31 2. 59 2. 52 2.53 2.43 2.60 2.68 2. 27 2. 56 2.89 2.60 2. 72 2.46 2.30 2.68 2.23 2.30 2.78-3.01 2. 55 2. 78 2.33 2.41 2.47-2.70 2. 54 2.62 2. 49 2.29 2. 41 2. 55 2.36 2. 59 2. 64 2. 36 2,47 2.78 2.48 2.51 2. 67 2.67 2.38 2. 45-2. 75 2. 62 2. 04 2. 26 $2.38-2.44 1.86-2.09 2.08-2. 30 2.07-2. 24 2.23-2. 47 2.31 2.15 2.00 2.13 2.57-3.01 1. 76-2. 46 2.35-2. 49 1.86-2.00 1. 25-1. 87 2.25-2. 40 2.19 2.01-2.30 2.55-2. 63 1.72 2.00 2.00 2.00 2.16-2.30 2.23-2.44 1.50 2.37-2.44 1.90-2.10 1.92 2.47-2.51 1.61-2. 45 1.70 1.95-2.05 2.23-2.42 2.20-2.40 1. 70-2. 59 2.00 1. 25-1.87 2.03-2.66 1.88-2. 37 2.10-2.18 2.45-2. 81 2.11 2.74 2.00 1.90 2.03 2.27-2. 70 2. 35 2.40-2. 57 1.21-1.33 2. 51 2.04 2.02 1.62-2.00 1.86-2. 50 1.35-1.97 1. 91-2. 76 1.70-2.61 0) 1.9Q-2.33 1.97-2. 63 1.55 2.19-2.30 2. 71 2.03-2.18 2.32 2.00 2.08 2.06 2 2.28-2. 74 2.13 2. 07-2.12 2.00-2.06 $2.28 1.70 2.08 1.86-1.95 2.06 2.17 2.03 1.75 2.13 2.37-2.57 1.77-1.87 2.10-2.31 1.68 1.50-1. 59 2.02-2.25 2.02 1.89 2.27 1.35-1.57 1.87 1.90 1.75 1.88-2.05 2.09-2.24 1.50 2.21-2. 31 1.43 1. 70 2. 37 1.61-1.74 1.43-1. 51 1.68 2.23 2.18-2. 22 1.52-2. 43 2.00 1. 50-1. 59 2.25-2. 53 1. 75-2.05 1.47-1.86 2.19-2.34 2.63 1.84 1.90 1.91 2.11 2.20 2. 31 1.10 2. 44 2.04 1.90-1.95 1.22-1. 50 1.86-2.16 1.60-1.69 1. 91-2.16 1.75-2. 41 (l) 1.75 2.53 1. 55 1.88 2. 50 2. 03 2.32 1.82 1. 94-1.99 2 2.06-2.19 1.88 2. 07 2 .00 Press assistants and feeders $1.54 1.30-1.67 1.04-1.44 1.17-1.93 1.61-2.07 . 97-1.38 i. 82-2. 54 1.15-1.97 1.60-1.98 1.92 1.65 1.09-1.62 1.43-1.93 .98-1.69 1.35-1. 75 1.65-2.16 .98-1.23 1.30-1.60 1.83-1.90 1. 21-2.11 1.30 1. 50-1.88 .98-1 18 1.78-2! 14 1.36-1.85 . 90-1.35 1. 24-1. 70 1.38-2.03 1.03-2.09 1.09-1.62 1.49-2. 22 1. 50-1.84 1.03-1.60 1.05-2.21 1.73-2.16 1.17-1. 54 l! 65 1. 63-1. 88 1.60-2. 20 1 70 1. 41-2. 08 .88 1.66 1.63-1.95 1.15-1.39 1.45-1. 91 1.29-1. 72 1.00-2.09 1.38-2.02 i. 15-1. 40 1.65-2. 08 1. 48-1.87 1. 79-2.15 1.84 1.73-1.78 1 43 1.39-1.63 1. 79 1.55-2.06 1.43-1. 80 1O 80-1 x« U ±. 8^ oO . 90-1. 41 PRINTING OCCUPATIONS Lithographic (Offset) Occupations (D. O. T. 4-46, 4-48.050, .070) Outlook Summary Better chances for newcomers in early fifties than in other printing fields. Long run upward trend in employment, but number of jobs will re main relatively small. Nature of Work The main groups of lithographic workers are cameramen, artists and letterers, platemakers, and pressmen and assistants. C am eramen . (D. O. T. 4-46.200).—Cameramen who photograph the copy to be printed are highly skilled workers. As a group, they do several dif ferent kinds of photography, developing, and re lated work in black and white or color; the photo graphing of drawings or photographs, as well as taking original shots; developing glass plates on negative paper or film. The individual camera man nearly always specializes in one type of pho tography. A rtists and L etterers (D. O. T. 4-46.700).— After negatives have been made and developed, they frequently have to be retouched, to lighten or intensify certain parts. This is done by hand, with chemicals and dyes, and is one of the many highly skilled operations handled by craftsmen in the art department. Artists may have to correct colors in the final press plates. They also draw posters or other pictures on stone or metal plates or on special paper, on the comparatively rare occasions when hand methods are used in place of photo lithography. Lettering is usually done by hand. To be journeymen, artists have to be adept either in one or more of the various retouching methods or in hand drawing with lithographic crayon. Like cameramen, they are customarily assigned to one phase of the work and may then be known, for example, as dot etchers (who do a highly special ized type of retouching), retouchers, crayon art ists, or letterers, depending on the particular job. P latemakers . (D. O. T. 4^46.300 through .600).—In photolithography, negatives and posi tives (made by cameramen and corrected by art ists) are transferred onto press plates by workers in the platemaking (chemical or processing) de partment. First, a plateman places a metal plate with a light sensitive coating in a vacuum frame or photocomposing machine; puts a photographic negative (or, sometimes, a positive) on top of it; and makes an exposure under an arc lamp. The plate is then developed and chemically treated so as to make the nonimage areas repellent to grease when damp, while leaving the image areas re ceptive to it. The foregoing indicates only a few of the main steps in this highly complicated and technical process. Platemakers in small shops often per form all the different operations. Those in large shops, however, are likely to be more specialized; they may, for example, operate only a vacuum frame or a photocomposing machine. Besides platemakers using these photo-mechanical meth ods, there are some who do hand transferring— although this latter process has been largely dis placed by photomechanical platemaking. P ressmen and A ssistants (D. O. T. 4-48.070 and 6-49.410).—Although the basic duties of litho graphic (offset) pressmen and assistants are simi lar to those of letterpress and gravure men (see p. 321), there are many differences. These varia tions arise at least in part from the specialized character of lithographic presses. An offset press has three, rather than two, cylin ders. The first carries the curved plate; the sec ond, a rubber blanket; and the third, the paper (or other material) on which an impression is to be made. The plate does not print directly onto the paper; instead, it transfers the impression to the rubber blanket around the second cylinder which then offsets the image onto the paper. Another special feature is the dampening rollers which pass over the plate before each inking, to prevent the greasy ink from adhering to the nonprinting areas of the plate. Both these features create extra complications for the pressman. In printing by this method much less pressure is needed than in relief and gravure printing, and unusually deli cate and skillful adjustments by the pressman are required to attain exactly the right pressure. 325 OCCUPATIONAL OUTLOOK HANDBOOK A few pressmen specialize in operating direct lithographic presses. When these presses are used, impressions are made on paper or other printing surfaces directly from the plate (stone) instead of by a blanketed middle cylinder. Training and Qualifications A large proportion of offset workers are skilled. To become an all-round craftsman generally re quires a 4- or 5-year apprenticeship covering the basic techniques of the process. The main em phasis of the training is on the operations related to the specific occupation in which journeyman status is being sought. Beginners are usually hired as helpers (or as sistants) and promoted to apprentices after a year or two, if they show promise and there are open ings. Besides on-the-job training, many plants have supplementary courses for their workers. Courses are offered also in vocational schools. Al though the skill requirements for lithographic work are often similar to those in other printing methods, opinions differ as to how readily journey men can transfer from jobs in this field to the more or less comparable activities in letterpress and gravure printing. A high school education is needed for most jobs. Work in the art, engraving, and camera depart ments calls for natural drawing ability and an eye for color and design, as well as technical ability. Since pressmen often must blend their own inks, they too should have a knowledge of color. In platemaking, manual dexterity and an interest in chemistry are more important. Many types of physical handicaps are not bars to employment in offset jobs. Outlook There will be openings for a limited number of trainees in lithographic work during the early fifties. Employment is expected to rise moder ately, but the offset field will remain relatively small in comparison with letterpress printing. Platemakers make up the largest occupational group in offset work (over 5,000 were employed in mid-1950), and there will be more openings in platemaking than in any other offset job. The longer run employment prospects in lithog raphy are also generally favorable. Any kind of printing job that can be done by letterpress or 326 gravure can be done also by lithography. Practi cal considerations determine which method is used. Lithography has special advantages when the copy to be reproduced includes photographs, drawings, or paintings, and particularly when these are in color. Recent improvements affecting the life of plates and the speed of presses have been enabling the process to gain headway in the important mass magazine field. But even before these latest de velopments, offset was a rapidly expanding graphic art, perhaps the fastest-growing repro duction method. Employment gains will occur not only in plants specializing in lithographic work, but also in the growing number of letterpress establishments setting up offset departments. Such combination plants are playing an increas ingly important role in the printing industries. There will be opportunities for a few men to open their own shops. The initial investment is greater than in letterpress printing, and the chances for success are likely to be best in localities which do not already have well-established litho graphic businesses. For many years, New York, Chicago, and San Francisco have been the principal lithographic centers, accounting for perhaps half or more of all offset jobs in the country. Excessive humidity or dryness and other factors have re tarded offset progress in some parts of the country. Jobs will become more and more widespread, how ever, in future years. Offset work has had an es pecially rapid growth in recent years in some of the large western cities. Earnings and Unionization A large proportion, if not a majority, of litho graphic craftsmen and operatives belong to the Amalgamated Lithographers of America (CIO), the only printing union organized on an industrial basis. All or almost all of the occupations in volved are well represented. A small number of offset pressmen and assistants are in the AFL’s In ternational Printing Pressmen’s and Assistants’ Union, and their wage scales (see p. 324) have been included with those of other nonplaten pressmen and helpers in the separate statements on letterpress and gravure pressmen and assistants. Union wage scales under the agreements of the Amalgamated Lithographers of America are not included in the regular annual surveys of the PRINTING OCCUPATIONS T able 2.— U n io n h ou rly w age scales in lith og rap h ic o ccu pation s in selected c itie s , D ec. 15, 1949 Artists* Ashland, Ohio__ _ __ __ _____ Atlanta, Ga_ _ _ ___ _ ___ ____ ____ __ __ Bennington, Vt__________. . . . _______... ___ _ _ Boise, Idaho_______ ____ ____ ____________ _ _ ___ Boston, M ass____________ ___________ _ Buffalo, N. Y_____________________________________ Chicago, 111_______________________________________ Cincinnati, Ohio ________________________________ Cleveland, O hio...___________________________ ____ Dayton, Ohio _______________ ______________ _ Denver, Colo___________________ _______________ Des Moines, Iowa_________ __ ___ _______ Detroit, Mich _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _____ _ Evansville, Ind Indianapolis, Ind __ _ . _ _________ Kansas City, M o... _____ _ _ _ _ _ ______ Los Angeles, Calif______ _ _ __ _ ___ ___ _ Louisville, Ky ___ __ ___ _ _ _ _ ___ _ ___ __ _ _ Milwaukee, Wis ___ _ ___ __ _ _ _____ _ _____ Minneapolis, M inn._______ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ New York, N. Y _________________________________ Oklahoma City, Okla ____________ ___ ________ Philadelphia, Pa ________________________________ Pittsburgh, Pa___ ___________ ___________________ Portland, Oreg_____________________ ____________ Poughkeepsie, N c Y____ ________________________ Providence, R. I_______ ________ _______________ Racine, Wis__ ________ _ _ ._ ___ ___ _ _ __ _ Rochester, N. Y_ _________ ___ ___ ______________ Salt Lake City, Utah___ _____ __________________ San Francisco, Calif __ _ _ _ _ _ ______ ____ Schenectady, N. Y ________________ ______________ Seattle, Wash __________ _______________________ St. Louis, M o_________ _________________________ St. Paul, Minn_____ _____________________________ Syracuse, N. Y ________ ___________________________ Toledo, Ohio________ __ _____ _ _ _____ _ Wilmington, Del___ _ __ _ . ___ _______ _____ $2. 50 2. 44-2. 71 2.30-2. 56 2.60 1.85-2.66 2.21-2.49 2.17-2. 49 2.18-2. 48 2.22-2.34 2. 09 2.40-2. 52 2.02 2.42 2.56 2.48-2.69 2.02 2.43-2.46 2.50 2.75-3.05 2.04-2.35 2.44-2. 77 2. 50 2. 62 2.82 2.37-2.60 2. 50 2.70 2.14 2.48-2. 62 2.62 2. 48 2. 20-2. 42 2.50 2.58-2.88 2.44-2. 50 2. 78 Platemakers and related workers $1.85-2. 21 2. 25 1.65-2. 31 2.15 1.64-2.20 1.91-2. 27 2.00-2. 51 1.58-2.35 1.78-2. 25 1.68-2. 25 1.63-2. 22 1. 27-1. 78 2.19-2. 40 1.87 2.09-2.31 1. 55-2.34 2.08-2.48 .94-1. 71 1.85-2.37 1.60-2.30 2.08-2. 75 1.48-2.04 1.72-2.44 1.88-2. 50 2.07-2. 48 1.80-2.49 2.00-2.28 1. 75-2. 41 1.75-2. 39 2.14 2. 08-2.48 2. 39 2.00-2.48 1.65-2.13 1.60-2. 30 1.67-2. 28 2. 23-2.44 1.76-2.44 Cameramen $1.87-2. 58 2. 25 1.98-2.80 2.15 2.04-2. 55 1.62-2.60 2.12-2.81 2.07-2. 63 1.90-2. 52 1.82-2. 22 1.88-2.47 1.96-2.09 2.02-2.52 2. 20-2.48 2.01-2.65 2. 57-2.68 1. 71-2.02 2. 02-2.64 2.32-2.51 2.15-3.31 1.98-2.29 2.05-2.94 2. 04-2.65 2. 48-2.62 2. 49-2. 75 2.12-2.60 2. 50-2. 76 2. 70 2.14 2.57-2.90 2.39-2.80 2.48 1.82-2.50 2. 32-2.51 2. 28-2.88 1.89-2. 50 2.94 Pressmen $2.03-2.85 2.10-2.41 1.78-3. 56 1.88-2.15 1.84-2.86 1.91-2.35 2.25-3.34 1.90-2. 55 1.37-1. 48 1.63-2.63 1.83-2.47 1.56-2.09 2.11-3.00 1.77-2.27 2.09-2. 59 2.09-2.56 2.00-2.90 1.58-2. 02 1.85-2. 70 1.85-2.57 2. 22-3. 53 1. 79-2. 25 1. 85-3. 20 2. 01-2.85 2. 35-2. 48 2.13-3. 51 2.12-3.10 1. 97-3.17 2.10-3. 09 2. 01-2. 39 2. 34-2.95 2. 32-2.83 2.00-2.70 2.04-3.12 1.85-2.57 2.12-2. 43 1. 93-2.91 Press assistants $1.58 1. 45 1.49-1. 78 1.43-1.58 1.36-1.41 1.66-2. 01 1.62-1. 73 1.37-1. 48 1. 43 1.50-1.63 1.30-1.40 1.63 1.33-1. 38 1.64 1.33-1. 52 1.70-1. 78 1.19-1.35 1.64-1.72 1.66-1.76 1.68-2. 22 1.35 1.28-1. 79 1. 49-1.56 1.70 1. 54-2.01 1. 21-1. 71 1.35-1.77 1.61-1.67 1. 41-1.48 1.70-1.78 1. 45-1. 87 1. 70-1. 77 1.69 1.66-1.76 1.67 1.53-1.66 ♦ Excludes opaquers and spotters. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The information on union wage scales in lithography (shown above) is based on data for 38 cities compiled by the National Association of Photo-Lithographers, but the data are of a similar nature to those of the Bureau. At the end of 1949, more than half the city scales for artists were between $2.40 and $2.70 an hour (not including opaquers and spotters, whose rates were much lower). Rates for cameramen fre quently ranged below those of skilled artists shown, but the top-grade cameramen usually made as much or more than the top-skilled artists. Nearly all the platemaker and related scales reported were between $1.60 and $2.50. This range includes men with varying degrees of skill and responsibility; the scales of the more highly skilled men, such as the journeymen discussed in this re port, were toward the upper end of the range. A wide range of scales is indicated also for press men. The great majority of the scales reported for these workers were between $1.90 and $2.60 an hour. Press assistant rates ranged largely from $1.30 to $1.80. The number and size and complexity of the presses operated and tended by journeymen and helpers influence their rates. Bookbinders (D. O. T. 4-49.010) Outlook Summary Job opportunities will continue to become fewer because of expected employment declines during the early fifties and also over the longer run. Nature of Work Many products are finished when they leave the pressroom. This is true of a wide variety of items produced by job shops—business forms, printed stationery, labels, advertising flyers, etc. News papers, except the few that are bound for libraries, never see a bindery department. Nevertheless, binderies play a part in the manufacture of many items besides books. The sewing or stapling of magazines, pamphlets, or small calendars is con sidered a bindery operation. 327 OCCUPATIONAL OUTLOOK HANDBOOK P h o to g r a p h by U. S. d e p a r tm e n t of labor B o o k b in d e r p utting gold le tte rin g on back of book w ith hand tool. There are several different kinds of binderies, serving a variety of purposes. Edition and pamphlet binderies (or bindery departments) bind the regularly published editions of books and pamphlets printed in large quantities. Trade binderies serve a function similar to the service shops of other branches of the printing industry discussed on page 302. Job binderies do odd jobs on order for customers direct or for the trade. Blankbook binderies bind ledgers and bookkeeping and accounting volumes. There are also library binderies (or properly staffed and equipped specialized departments of job binderies) which bind and rebind books and other printed materials for libraries, and do various kinds of related work. Edition binding—making books in quantity out of the big, flat sheets of paper that come into a bindery from the pressroom or from an outside printer—is by far the most complicated kind of bindery work. The first step is to fold the printed sheets, each of which contains many pages, so that these pages will be in the right order. When so folded into sections of 16 or 32 pages, the sheets are known as signatures. The next steps are to insert any illustrations that have been printed separately, to assemble the signatures in proper 328 order, and to sew them together. The resulting book bodies are shaped in various ways, usually with power presses and trimming machines, and fabric strips are glued to the backs to reinforce them. Sometimes the edges of the pages are gilded or colored. Covers are glued or pasted onto the book bodies, after which the books undergo a variety of finishing operations and, fre quently, are wrapped in paper jackets. Machines are used extensively throughout the process. Skilled bookbinders seldom handle all these dif ferent tasks, although many journeymen have had training in all of them. In large shops especially, bookbinders are likely to be assigned to one or a few operations, most often to the operation of com plicated machines. The majority of journeymen are employed in shops whose chief business is bookbinding. How ever, a good many work in the bindery rooms of large book, periodical and commercial printing plants. Some are employed in libraries, where the work is done mainly by hand and also differs in other respects from that performed elsewhere. Q ualifications fo r E m p lo y m e n t Completion of a 4-year apprenticeship is usually required of men seeking to qualify as skilled book binders. Apprenticeship programs may vary con siderably among the different types of shops or services. Where large quantities of books are bound on a mass-production (edition) basis, em phasis is on the most modern machine methods. Where tine hand binding is done, the training is mainly in hand methods, including artistic de signing and decorating of leather covers. O u tlook During the early fifties, employment of skilled bookbinders is likely to slip further from the high immediate postwar levels. Many new bookbinders were trained between 1946 and 1949—to make up for the wartime labor shortage, take care of normal replacement needs, and handle the expanded vol ume of bookbinding work. Despite an apparent decline in employment in the closing year or two of the forties, the number of jobs in early 1950 was probably still several thousand above the 1940 total of less than 25,000. The recent downtrend in em ployment is a resumption of the long-run decline of the occupation which was interrupted by the PRINTING OCCUPATIONS war and the immediate postwar boom. Job open ings are likely to be relatively few, on the whole, in the years to come. Earnings and Unionization Wage scales in this occupation tend to be below the general average of the skilled printing trades. On July 1, 1950, the union rates for journeymen bookbinders in book and job printing in about three-fourths of 77 cities surveyed were from $1.80 to $2.40 an hour. The average union rate was $2.07 an hour. The union wage scales for bookbinders as of July 1, 1950, in most of the important printing centers, are shown in the following tabulation. Although employees in binderies are not so strongly organized as other groups of printing workers, many skilled bookbinders are represented by the International Brotherhood of Bookbinders (AFL), one of the six major unions of printing workers. A higher proportion of journeymen than of nonjourneymen bindery workers belong to this union. Atlanta, Ga______________ $2. 27 M inneapolis, M inn_______$2. 40 Baltim ore, Md_________ 1. 77 Newark, N. J _____ 1. 86-2. 28 Birmingham, A la______ 2. 08 New Haven, Conn________ 2.05 Boston, M ass__________ 2. 07 New Orleans, La__________ 2.10 Buffalo, N. Y___________ 2. 02 New York, N. Y___ . 97-2. 50 Butte, M ont___________ 2. 31 Oakland, C alif____________ 2.63 Charleston, W. Va_____ 2. 15 Oklahoma City, Charlotte, N. C— _____ 1. 60 • Okla_____________________ 2.00 Chicago, 111_________2. 37-2. 60 Philadelphia, P a__1. 90-1. 95 Cincinnati, Ohio________ 2. 22 Pittsburgh, P a____________ 2.06 Cleveland, Ohio________ 2. 23 Portland, Oreg------------------ 2.51 Columbus, Ohio________ 2. 35 Richmond, Va_____________ 1.78 Dayton, Ohio_______ 2. 08-2. 28 Rochester, N. Y___ 2. 16-2. 24 Denver, Colo__________ 1. 98 St. Louis, Mo_____ 2. 08-2. 10 Des Moines, Iow a_____ 2. 00 St. Paul, M inn____ 2. 28-2. 33 Detroit, Mich_____ 2. 25-2. 40 San Antonio, Tex--------------- 1.80 Houston, Tex__________ 2. 16 San Francisco, Calif___ 2. 63 Indianapolis, Ind---------- 2. 23 Scranton, P a_____ 1. 92-1. 99 Jackson, M iss__________ 1. 60 Seattle, W ash------------------ 2.71 Jacksonville, F la______ 2. 00 South Bend, Ind__________ 2.18 K ansas City, Mo_______ 2. 27 Spokane, W ash___________ 2.32 L ittle Rock, Ark---------- 1. 87 Springfield, M ass__________ 2.00 Syracuse, N. Y------------------ 1.55 Los Angeles, Calif_____ 2. 42 Toledo, Ohio---------------------- 1.91 Louisville, K y____ 1. 79-1. 80 W D. C______ 1 2. 19 Memphis, Tenn________ 1. 90 W ashington, ichita, K ans------------------- 2.09 Miami, F la-------------------- 1. 85 York, P a__________________ 1.95 Milwaukee, W is________ 2. 18 Youngstown, Ohio------------- 1.77 1 Excludes Government Printing Office. Bindery Workers (D. O. T. 6-49.000 through .199) Outlook Summary Training A gradually growing field made up mainly of women workers. Fairly large number of open ings for newcomers in early fifties to replace workers leaving their jobs. For inexperienced men and women entering the occupation a training period which may be as long as 1 or 2 years is frequently required. In union shops, there are always formal training programs. Nature of Work In many binderies, especially large ones, a great part of the work is done by employees trained in only one operation or in a small number of related tasks. These semiskilled workers, often classi fied as bindery workers or bindery hands, are mostly women (hence the common designation bindery women). Women handle a variety of hand or light-machine operations, such as hand folding, pasting-in of inserts, assembling signa tures by hand, machine-sewing, gluing fabric rein forcement on signatures, and feeding machines. The small number of men involved are usually as signed to more intricate machine jobs; they may operate assembling, trimming, stamping, and many other types of machines. Bindery workers are employed both in independent binderies and in the bindery departments of big printing plants and of other operations. Outlook Employment of bindery workers has risen con siderably since the end of the war. During the early fifties the number of jobs is expected to re main about the same as in 1949, with a slight in crease possible. Bindery workers are by far the largest group of semiskilled workers in the printing and allied industries. In 1939, roughly 70 to 80 thousand women and men were in bindery work and sub stantially more are now employed. > Because this is a relatively big field, and because there is usually considerable turn-over among women employees, there should be a fairly large number of openings for new workers during the early fifties. The long-range trend in employment is upward, and those who obtain jobs in the early fifties have good chances of reasonably steady work for many years if favorable general business conditions continue. 329 OCCUPATIONAL OUTLOOK HANDBOOK Earnings and Unionization Women bindery workers have the lowest wage rates of any group of production workers in the printing and allied industries (see following tabu lation). For example, even the union scales for bindery women in effect in book and job printing on July 1, 1950, in the cities covered in the annual union wage scale survey of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, were rarely over $1.45 an hour and more than half of them were under $1.20. No scale, however, was below the rate of 75 cents found in Baltimore. The highest rate, $1.50, was in effect in Seattle. The general average of the union rates for bindery women in the cities surveyed was $1.18. Men doing semiskilled machine work are gener ally paid somewhat more than the usual top rate for women. The few men performing semiskilled hand operations are paid rates similar to those for women workers. The union hourly wage scales for bindery women in book and job printing plants as of July 1,1950, in most of the important printing centers, are shown in the following tabulation. Although employees in binderies are not so strongly organized as other groups of printing workers, many bindery workers are represented by 330 the International Brotherhood of Bookbinders (AFL), one of the six major printing unions. The proportion of semiskilled bindery personnel organized is smaller than that for bookbinders and bookbinder machine operators. Atlanta, Ga_______ $1.17 Baltimore, Md__ . 75- 93 Birmingham, Ala__ 1.10 Boston, Mass______ 1.11 Buffalo, N. Y______ 1. 04 Butte, Mont______ 1. 37 Charleston, W. Va__ 1.21 Charlotte, N. C____ . 95 Chicago, 111___ 1. 37-1. 42 Cincinnati, Ohio___ 1. 27 Cleveland, Ohio. 1. 08-1.15 Columbis, Ohio____ 1. 29 Dayton, Ohio__ 1. 05-1. 31 Denver, Oolo______ 1.15 Des Moines, Iowa_1.11 Detroit, Mich_1.15-1. 25 Houston, Tex_____ 1. 22 Indianapolis, Ind__ 1. 24 Jacksonville, Fla__ . 90 Kansas City, Mo___ 1. 28 Little Rock, Ark__ . 98 Los Angeles, Calif_1. 45 Louisville, Ky__ 1. 03-1. 06 Memphis, Tenn____ . 95 Miami, Fla________ 1. 05 Milwaukee, Wis___ 1. 08 Minneapolis, Minn_1. 20 Newark, N. J______ $1.19 New Haven, Conn_______ 1. 00-1. 05 New Orleans, La___ 1. 00 New York, N. Y_ 1. 00-1. 23 Oakland, Calif____ 1.48 Oklahoma City,Okla_ 1. 09 Philadelphia, Pa__ 1. 00 Pittsburgh, P a ____ 1.12 Portland, Oreg____ 1. 39 Richmond, Va_____ .94 Rochester, N. Y_ 1.14-1. 25 St. Louis, Mo_____ 1.15 St. Paul, Minn_1.10-1.17 San Antonio, Tex . 93 San Francisco, Calif_ 1. 48 Scranton, Pa_____ 1.13 Seattle, Wash_____ 1. 50 South Bend, Ind__ 1.15 Spokane, Wash____ 1. 29 Springfield, Mass__ 1. 03 Syracuse, N. Y____ . 93 Toledo, Ohio______ 1. 20 Washington, D. C.__ 11. 05 Wichita, Kans____ 1.16 York, Pa__________ 1.10 Youngstown, Ohio_ . 85 1 Excludes Government Printing Office. U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: I95S
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